By Jose Herrera and Perry Smith
A Santa Clarita man working as a masseuse in the Castaic area was arrested Friday on suspicion of a sexual assault, according to a sergeant with the Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Unit.
Salvador Gonzalez, 29, of Santa Clarita, was arrested on suspicion of a 289(a) charge — sexual penetration against the victim’s will by means of force, violence, duress, menace or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury — at 3:15 p.m. Friday, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department records available online.
The woman was suffering from sciatic nerve pain and was referred to the suspect, from whom she arranged to receive a massage in the 31500 block of Castaic Road inside a store owned by a family member of the woman, according to the alleged victim’s sister.
The Signal does not generally name or provide identifying information for alleged victims of sexual assault.
Believing she had been sexually assaulted, the victim contacted the Sheriff’s Department, which investigated the incident and ultimately arrested Gonzalez later that day, according to Sgt. Joseph Mesa of the Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Unit.
Gonzalez answered a phone call Monday from a business card that was shared by the victim and said he turned himself in to Sheriff’s Department officials Friday.
He denied the allegation and referred comment on the incident to his attorney.
After a few more attempts to reach Gonzalez or his attorney, neither were able to be reached Monday afternoon for comment.
He was booked at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station around 10 p.m. Friday. A Sheriff’s Station official confirmed Gonzalez later bonded out on $100,000 bail.
The case is under investigation by the Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Unit.
