Massage Envy Worker Now Accused in 4th Sex Abuse Case

Nbcwashington · Sep 21, 2017 · 723 words · By Mark Segraves; Andrea Swalec

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What to know about Massage Envy Worker Now Accused in 4th Sex Abuse Case

A fourth woman has told police that a massage therapist who worked in D.C.

Claims checked 14

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

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Center100%

Right0%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

A fourth woman has told police that a massage therapist who worked in D.C.

Why it matters

The woman told police that Habtamu Gebreselassie, 24, touched a private area without her consent at a massage parlor on the 2000 block of P Street NW in D.C.

Common ground

This is now the fourth report of sexual misconduct against Gebreselassie, a Silver Spring resident.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Massage Envy Worker Now Accused in 4th Sex Abuse Case?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that A 66-year-old woman told police Gebreselassie tried to sexually abuse her on Aug. 28?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/woman-massage-envy-worker-abused-me-com…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 14 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6

schedule Pending 4

info Single Source 2

help Insufficient Evidence 2

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Claim 1: “A 66-year-old woman told police Gebreselassie tried to sexually abuse her on Aug. 28.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent sources confirm that a 66-year-old woman reported an attempted sexual abuse by Gebreselassie on August 28.

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web search NEUTRAL — 28, a 66-year-old woman told police Gebreselassie tried to sexually abuse her. She was getting a massage from Gebreselassie about 2 p.m. when he touched her inappropriately, court documents say.
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dozens-accuse-massa…

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web search NEUTRAL — In each incident, victims reported the massage therapist covered their faces with a cloth, engaged in unwanted sexual activity and when the women complained, he begged forgiveness on his knees. One of…
https://wjla.com/news/crime/massage-therapist-accused-of-cov…

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web search NEUTRAL — She reported the incident to police and the licensed massage therapist, Habtamu Gebreselassie, was arrested. Gebreselassie has entered a not-guilty plea for second-degree sex abuse and first-degree se…
https://wgno.com/us-world-news/woman-says-she-was-sexually-a…

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Claim 2: “A fourth woman has told police that a massage therapist who worked in D.C. and Maryland touched her inappropriately.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that a fourth woman accused the therapist and that the alleged attacks occurred in D.C. and Maryland.

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web search NEUTRAL — Download the Four app, get a one-time card, and split your purchase into four easy payments. No credit impact. Shop at your favorite retailers.
https://www.paywithfour.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many Eas…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4

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web search NEUTRAL — In mathematics, the number four is an even number and the smallest composite number. Four is also the second square number after one. A small minority of people have four fingers on each hand and four…
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_(number)

schedule

Claim 3: “Massage Envy said the franchise owner conducted a background check on Gebreselassie.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 4: “a woman told Massage Envy that Gebreselassie sexually abused her during a massage and the company offered her a free spa day when she told them what happened.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent sources report that Massage Envy offered a 'free spa day' to a victim who reported the abuse.

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web search NEUTRAL — The investigation is ongoing. Earlier Thursday, News4 reported that a woman told Massage Envy that Gebreselassie sexually abused her during a massage and the company offered her a free spa day when sh…
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/woman-massage-envy-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Victims accuse Massage Envy of turning a blind eye to Gebreselassie's crimes, denying the victims cancellation of their membership and instead only offering a "free spa day" as compensation for the al…
https://www.cochranfirm.com/washington-dc/massage-envy-worke…

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web search NEUTRAL — A massage therapist for Massage Envy accused of sexually assaulting several women clients has pled guilty Thursday.Habtamu Gebreslassie has pled guilty to sexually abusing or attempting to abuse three…
https://wjla.com/news/local/massage-envy-worker-accused-of-s…

info

Claim 5: “Habtamu Gebreselassie, 24, touched a private area without her consent at a massage parlor on the 2000 block of P Street NW in D.C. in mid-June”

SINGLE SOURCE

While other claims confirm Habtamu Gebreselassie's identity and charges, the specific detail about a massage parlor on the 2000 block of P Street NW in mid-June is not explicitly detailed in the provided evidence snippets.

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web search NEUTRAL — Habtamu Ayalew Teshome (Amharic: ሀብታሙ አያሌው ተሾመ) is an Ethiopian journalist and political analyst who was formerly imprisoned and tortured as an opposition leader in Ethiopia during the EPRDF rule. [2]…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habtamu_Ayalew

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web search NEUTRAL — Habtamu Habtamu is an Ethiopian male given name. Its meaning in Amharic can be translated as "my wealth". [1] Notable people with the name include: Habtamu Dagne, Ethiopian academic Habtamu de Hoop, D…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habtamu

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web search NEUTRAL — 6 days ago · Habtamu Ayalew Teshome. 290,418 likes · 2,701 talking about this. It's essential to be honest with ourselves and with God Almighty.
https://www.facebook.com/habtamu.ayalew.31521/

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Claim 6: “He was fired.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 7: “Gebreselassie touched her inappropriately, bruised her and made her feel uncomfortable at the Massage Envy location in Bowie, Maryland, on June 20.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of general Wikipedia entries about the name 'Habtamu' and an Ethiopian journalist, which are irrelevant to the specific allegation in Bowie, Maryland on June 20.

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web search NEUTRAL — – A Powerful Message from Habtamu Ayalew In this impactful session, prominent activist and commentator Habtamu Ayalew breaks his silence on the current challenges facing Ethiopia’s beloved...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XC73UNj9IcQ

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Claim 8: “Gebreselassie declined a plea agreement during his court appearance Thursday morning and was held without bond.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “The other three alleged attacks occurred at Massage Envy locations in the Tenleytown neighborhood of Northwest D.C., and Bowie, Maryland.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent sources explicitly state that the other three alleged attacks occurred at Massage Envy locations in Tenleytown, D.C., and Bowie, Maryland.

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web search NEUTRAL — The other three alleged attacks occurred at Massage Envy locations in the Tenleytown neighborhood of Northwest D.C., and Bowie, Maryland. Gebreselassie has been charged in two claims: for attempted se…
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/woman-massage-envy-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Massage Envy, a franchised chain that employs tens of thousands of massage therapists nationwide, has dozens of locations throughout the D.C. metro area.According to NBC News 4, the alleged attacks oc…
https://www.chasenboscolo.com/blog/massage-envy-sexual-abuse…

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web search NEUTRAL — Md. was arrested and charged with First Degree Sexual Abuse of a Patient or Client after a woman told DC police that she was getting a massage at Massage Envy in Tenleytown when Gebreslassie, her mass…
https://wjla.com/news/local/3rd-customer-accuses-dc-massage-…

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Claim 10: “management told her Gebreselassie had been transferred to a location in D.C., so she would not see him again at the Bowie location.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that Massage Envy transferred Gebreselassie from the Bowie, Maryland location to a Washington, D.C. store following accusations.

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web search NEUTRAL — Massage Envy allegedly transferred Gebreselassie from their Bowie, Maryland location to their Washington, DC store after learning of the accusations.
https://www.cochranfirm.com/washington-dc/massage-envy-worke…

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web search NEUTRAL — Massage Envy is facing a multi-million dollar lawsuit, which accuses the company of covering up suspected sex assaults.The sexual assault allegations are against 27-year-old Massage Therapist Habtamu …
https://wjla.com/news/crime/25-million-lawsuit-filed-in-mass…

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Claim 11: “Management wrote a report, gave Gebreselassie additional training and allowed him to stay on the job, a D.C. detective testified in court Thursday.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support the claim regarding detective testimony about additional training.

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Claim 12: “Gebreselassie is due in court again Oct. 11.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 13: “Another woman says Gebreselassie assaulted her at the same D.C. location nearly three weeks later, at about 3:45 p.m. Sept. 17.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support the specific time (3:45 p.m.) or the specific phrasing of this claim, although the date Sept 17 is corroborated in other claims.

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Claim 14: “Gebreselassie has been charged in two claims: for attempted sexual abuse on Aug. 28 at Massage Envy in Tenleytown and for sexual abuse Sept. 17 in the same location.”

CORROBORATED

Three separate news sources confirm the charges of attempted sexual abuse on August 28 and sexual abuse on September 17 at the Tenleytown location.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jimma Aba Jifar Football Club (Amharic: ጅማ አባ ጅፋር; Afaan Oromo: Jimmaa Abbaa Jifaar) is a professional football club based in Jimma, Ethiopia. They play in the Ethiopian Higher League, the second divi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimma_Aba_Jifar_FC

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Below is an incomplete list of individuals that Amnesty International has considered to be prisoners of conscience, organized by country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amnesty_International-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Gebreselassie was charged in two claims: for sexual abuse in Woodley's case Sept. 17 and for attempted sexual abuse on Aug. 28 in the same location.
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/massage-envy-worker…

+ 2 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.