Woman issues warning after sexual assault at DFW Airport spa

Sadie Kolves says she was sexually harassed by a massage therapist on August 11 at Spa Here, located inside Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. On August 22, Kolves posted a TikTok in which she says four other customers had made similar complaints to hers.

The video has been viewed over 480,000 times.

Does he still have his driving license?

“It's under investigation,” Kolves said in her first video. “He's still practicing, though.” In a subsequent video, however, Kolves said the alleged attacker left the spa at DFW Airport.

The Daily Dot reached out to the Texas Department of Licensing and Registration (TDLR). The TDLR has not yet responded, so it's unclear if he still has his license.

“I was a massage therapist for 30 years,” one viewer commented on Kolves' TikTok. “Again, the board is to blame.”

The TDLR revokes licenses for a variety of reasons, including fraudulent activity, a criminal conviction related to the licensed occupation, or making false statements to obtain a license.

In its guidelines for applicants with criminal records, the TDLR lists several reasons why someone who has been charged with sexual assault may be unsuitable for work as a massage therapist.

It is unclear whether criminal charges have been filed against this massage therapist in this context.

“I don't know why nothing was done,” says Kolves. “I don't know why he is still allowed to train, but I'll be damned if I allow there to be a sixth [victim].”

What do the viewers say?

Several viewers expressed their condolences in Kolves' comments section.

“I'm so sorry,” wrote one viewer. “This is exactly why no man will ever do mine!”

“Never again, I guarantee it,” Kolves replied.

Is Kolves taking legal action?

On August 29, Kolves posted a TikTok saying she now has a lawyer.

“My goal is to make sure he can never do this to another human being, and I won't stop until he's no longer able to do it,” she says.

In a Sept. 19 TikTok, Kolves says she is the third person to file a complaint against the former massage therapist. For one of those complaints, she says, he paid a fine.

“They said my police report was like a mirror image of the other girls’ police reports,” Kolves says.

The Daily Dot has requested police and arrest records from the City of Fort Worth on this alleged massage therapist, but has not yet received anything.

How often does this happen?

In April Forth Worth Star-Telegram reported on a woman who filed a sexual assault lawsuit against a Dallas Massage Envy employee.

This followed a 2017 report by Mary Alexander & Associates of 180 women who alleged that Massage Envy employees sexually harassed them at various locations.

How did Spa Here react?

The massage therapist no longer works at Spa Here, Kolves says in a recent video. She isn't sure if the company fired him or if he quit himself.

She was disappointed by the way the staff at Spa Here treated Kolves and her husband.

“They were very rude and very mean,” she says. “It was shocking.”

In a TikTok from August 25, Kolves shares photos of injuries from the alleged sexual assault. The photos show dark purple bruises on her inner thighs.

Kolves says she posted these photos on Spa Here's review page to warn other women, but the company hid her reviews.

“We have to stop this,” Kolves says in the Aug. 22 TikTok. “We can't let him hurt another person. We can't let that happen and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure he doesn't.”

Companies that fail to protect their customers from sexual assault can be held legally liable, according to Fletcher Injury Law.

Spa Here did not respond to the Daily Dot's request for comment.

@sadie.kolves ⚠️TRIGGER WARNING: SA Spa Here, I survived SA. And I won't stop until I protect other women from the abuse you put me through. @dfwairport #SA #spreadingawareness #nevergiveup ♬ Original sound – Sadie Kolves

What happens now?

Kolves did not elaborate on her experience, only describing it as a sexual assault.

“I don't really feel like going into too much detail because it's very uncomfortable,” she says in her latest video about the situation.

Kolves also says she had to push for prosecution, but that there is now a warrant out for the former Spa Here employee's arrest.

“I knew that if I didn't fight it, it would surely happen to someone else, or worse,” Kolves says. “He scared me to death, and I couldn't be the reason he was allowed to keep doing it. And I knew I had to stop. I should never have been a victim.”

Kolves did not immediately respond to the Daily Dot's interview request.

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