Jury decided the former spa employee wasn’t guilty of molesting a female client last June

A jury Tuesday acquitted a former Ashland massage therapist of charges that he molested a client at The Blue Giraffe Day Spa.

Jackson County Circuit Court jurors found Del Jones, 44, not guilty of five felony sex crimes. The only evidence heard was testimony from the 20-year-old alleged victim and from spa employees who said they called police after she reported sex abuse during her June 20 session with the blind masseur.

"They had no evidence ... and I think the jury saw that," said Jones’ defense attorney, Charles Kochlacs, after the verdict.

Investigators uncovered no DNA after the spa client, a Southern Oregon University student, underwent a physical exam at Ashland Community Hospital. Ashland Detective Steve Brown said he hoped the exam would yield Jones’ saliva or massage oils. The spa client testified that Jones placed his finger inside her vagina and performed oral sex on her while she told him to stop.

However, a patrol officer who initially interviewed the client failed to warn her about washing away DNA evidence. She testified she took a shower before a detective was able to speak with her. Ashland physician Philip Phillips, who later examined the woman, testified that her genital area was not in any way damaged. The lack of injuries is not unusual in sexual assault cases, he said.

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"We don’t have the physical evidence that you would like in your ‘CSI’-type trial," prosecutor David Hoppe admitted to the jury.

Jurors would have to base their verdict on whether they believed the alleged victim, Hoppe told the court. The woman wouldn’t have gone through a trial if she wasn’t telling the truth, he argued.

Yet Kochlacs asked the jury to ponder why the client didn’t fight Jones or rush from the massage room if a sex crime had really taken place. He also highlighted an inconsistency in her story. The woman told police she had never had a massage before her session at The Blue Giraffe but told the court Tuesday that she had. She also had hired an attorney to seek monetary damages from the spa, Kochlacs said.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," Kochlacs said in his closing statement. "She probably never thought it would go this far."

Leaving the court Tuesday with the aid of a gray, curly-haired seeing-eye dog, Jones said he had no desire to ever again work as a masseur. He has not been employed at The Blue Giraffe since his June 24 arrest.

Reach reporter Sarah Lemonat 776-4487, or e-mail slemon@mailtribune.com.