The West Coast College of Massage Therapy has terminated its relationship with the Salvation Army halfway house in Victoria after serial rapist Larry Takahashi received a massage from a female student this week.
The college, Victoria police and parents of the students are asking how 61-year-old Takahashi, known as the Balaclava Rapist for a string of violent rapes in Edmonton from 1979 to 1983, was allowed to sign up for a massage.
Takahashi was granted a 60-day temporary absence by parole officials and is staying at the halfway house so that he can attend a substance abuse program.
The college said it had assurances from the Salvation Army that massage clients would be screened. “It was our understanding that their screening process, given the nature of the work that we do, would protect our students from working with inappropriate patients,” executive director Cidalia Paiva said in a statement.
The statement said the college has “provided support to the student involved and any other students, staff and faculty who have expressed distress over this incident.”
Salvation Army B.C. spokeswoman Patricia Cuff could not say what the screening criteria are or whether some offenders are barred from signing up for massages based on their offences.
For the past two years, students from the college have visited the halfway house once a week to give massages to fully clothed clients who sit in chairs. They are in a group setting, supervised by a registered massage therapist and Salvation Army staff.
A mother of one of the students who participated in the group on Tuesday that included Takahashi said she’s horrified that he was allowed to get a massage. Her daughter was not the student who gave Takahashi a massage but was in the room.
“I think she felt betrayed,” said the mother, who did not want to be identified because her daughter signed a confidentiality agreement and does not want to jeopardize her place in the program. “They were told that participants in this program would be screened by the Salvation Army. I don’t feel like [the Salvation Army] held up their end of the bargain.”
The mother said students volunteer for the outreach program, which includes going to seniors homes and community events.
“[The students] were all shocked that he was even allowed to be part of the program,” the mother said. “How dare the Salvation Army think this was OK?”
The massage school approached the Salvation Army to provide the service, Cuff said. “They are aware that the Salvation Army does at times have high-risk offenders,” she said.
After hearing about the incident, Victoria police asked Takahashi’s parole officer if the behaviour constituted a breach of the conditions around his 60-day temporary release.
Takahashi was to report all interactions with females to his parole officer. The parole officer told Victoria police the massage incident was not a breach.
Patrick Storey, spokesman for the National Parole Board, said the decision to revoke Takahashi’s release is solely at the discretion of the parole officer.
A parolee can have his release revoked even if he doesn’t breach conditions as long as the parole officer has reasonable grounds to believe the person is a risk or is no longer manageable in the community, Storey said. “They have to have a specific concern relating to his behaviour or attitude.”
