Police have arrested an Austin massage therapist accused of improper photography.
Austin police investigators have confiscated a computer that belonged to Jason Charles Thompson, 34, that contains 120 files of his clients, and police say they may contain pictures or video of women getting dressed and undressed before and after massages.
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APD investigators say while some of the improper photography may have happened at Thompson's Northwest Austin home, they believe the majority took place at the Avant Salon and Spa in the Gateway Shopping Center.
KVUE talked to one woman who did not want to be identified and said she knows for sure Thompson was the man who gave her a massage. But she told KVUE he did not do anything physically inappropriate to her.
"I guess the likelihood of him having photographs of me are pretty slim. I am a little concerned of course," she said.
Thompson worked at the salon until August 2008.
"Apparently his room at the spa had towels and candles and a couple of cabinets. He had some personal items, so it would be easy enough to hide a video machine, a video camera," said Stephen Andreini, APD detective.
A friend of Thompson was the first to file a police report. The affidavit says the woman got a massage from Jason at the spa. During the massage, Jason is accused of touching her breasts.
Later police say the woman was informed that video had been found on Jason's home computer that showed her in various stages of undress and at times completely nude. The affidavit also states that Jason is seen having sex with women in some of the videos.
"From what we know there was no indication of any forced activity to this point," Andreini said. "But we have to talk to those women and find out if it was consensual and if they knew whether they were being videoed or not."
At the Spy Exchange in North Austin, Cody Woods told KVUE News hidden cameras today are about the size of a dime and the complete camera, transmitter and DVR can fit in the size of a pack of cigarettes and can be easily disguised.
"There's covert cams that can be hidden any place you can think of," he said. "Looks like an average book you might find anywhere, but if you take a closer look the camera is hidden right in the spine of the book."
Police have not released Thompson's booking photo, because they say they're currently talking to other potential victims and know there may be more. They want those potential victims to be able to identify Thompson without seeing his picture on the news.
Investigators say Thompson may have been doing this for the past five years, so their list of potential victims could be long.
"We have a list of names and files that he had also taken from the spa, so once we download the files, were going to compare them to the paper files and try to identify the former clients," Andreini said. "So anyone who thinks they may have gotten a massage from him with the last five years or so, we will want them to contact us."
The owners of Avant Salon and Spa did not want to go on camera, but they told KVUE News they were unaware Thompson was improperly photographing clients and the thought of it makes them sick.
Improper photography is a state jail felony. If convicted, Thompson could get up to two years in jail and a $10,000.
