A former Calgary massage therapist pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault on Wednesday.
Thirty-eight-year-old Greg Howden was accused of assaulting four clients by inappropriately touching them during their massages at the Massage Addict clinic in the southeast neighbourhood of Mahogany in 2018.
Crown and defense lawyers presented a joint submission for a plea deal to Judge Paul Mason, which he accepted.
Under the deal, Howden will not serve any jail time — instead, he will serve a six-month conditional sentence, plus 18 months probation.
“I can say there are very few cases where someone is convicted of four sexual assaults and doesn’t serve jail time,” Judge Paul Mason said to Howden.
“Make no mistake — you are now a convicted sex offender,” the Judge added.
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Howden will be required to live at his mother’s home in Three Hills, Alta. during his sentence — remaining there seven days a week for the first three months, and adhering to a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for the final three months.
The judge also ordered him to provide a DNA sample within the next two weeks.
Howden briefly addressed the court after the sentence was imposed, apologizing to his victims for his “serious lack of professionalism and maturity.”
“I’m going to work on myself and take a good look at myself,” Howden said.
The former massage therapist originally faced 22 charges from 15 complainants, in connection with sexual assaults alleged to have happened between 2015 and 2018 while he worked at several businesses in the city.
Most of the charges were withdrawn.
Howden still faces two other charges of forcible confinement and sexual assault in a separate case.
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