Massage therapist Jason Paul Hagon continued to indecently assault female clients despite police warning, court hears

ABC NEWS (Australia)

An Adelaide massage therapist has been jailed for six years for indecently assaulting nine female clients. Jason Paul Hagon, 54, was sentenced in South Australia's District Court after pleading guilty to 11 counts of indecent assault.

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00:00Nine women brought together through their shared trauma.

00:05It's not anything that you wish anyone to go through,

00:08but we've all been in it together the whole time.

00:12Individually preyed on by their massage therapist,

00:16Jason Paul Hagen, now jailed by the District Court for six years

00:20after pleading guilty to 11 counts of indecent assault

00:24in a deal which led to 14 charges being dropped,

00:27including seven counts of rape.

00:29It was a slap in the face,

00:32him entering that last-minute plea of guilty,

00:37but probably still a sense of relief that it's over.

00:40In sentencing, Judge Joanne Tracy said Hagen's offending

00:44was brazen, opportunistic and deliberate,

00:47and was committed against women in vulnerable circumstances

00:51in his home.

00:52The judge said that when police began investigating

00:55the first complaint, they issued Hagen a warning,

00:58but that didn't stop him.

01:00She said that he preyed on his victims' shock

01:02and their fear of embarrassment

01:04and interpreted their silence as acquiescence.

01:07Silent no more.

01:08That's exactly why we are agreeing to be in the media,

01:13is to hopefully give courage to other women to come forward.

01:1754-year-old Hagen can apply for parole in 2029.

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