French Masseur Sentenced to 9 Years in Andorra for Raping Patients

Andorra's Corts court has sentenced a French masseur, who ran a clinic in Escaldes-Engordany and has been in custody since March 2024, to nine years and three months in prison for two counts of rape and one count of simple sexual assault against three female patients.

The first-instance ruling, issued yesterday, imposes four years for each rape and 15 months for the assault. This total falls seven years short of the 16 years sought by prosecutors, who requested seven years per rape and two years for the assault. The masseur, who denied all charges, argued through his defence that any issues amounted to negligence at most and sought full acquittal.

The offences took place during treatments from October 2022 to March 2024, when he entered provisional prison. The court found he made non-consensual sexual contact with the victims' intimate areas, exploiting their vulnerability and trust by asking them to remove underwear for better treatment access—a detail the women described consistently, which the judges deemed key.

The defence challenged this with testimony from over 50 clients, mostly women, who reported professional conduct and no irregularities. However, the court gave full credibility to the victims' coherent and persistent accounts.

In addition to the prison term, the masseur faces a 20-year expulsion from Andorra and must pay €34,000 in total civil liability to the three victims, plus court costs. The sentence is not final; the defence has 15 days to appeal.