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New law would require background checks for masseuses
Massage therapists may soon need to submit their fingerprints and get a criminal background check to get a license in Idaho.
Massage therapists do their work “behind closed doors, with clients in a state of undress,” Mitch Toryanski, lawyer for the Idaho Bureau of Occupational Licenses, told the House Health and Welfare Committee.
Therefore, he said, the Idaho Board of Massage Therapy, which is requesting the change, believes it is important to know if massage therapist have “a history of criminal conduct, particularly for sex crimes.”
There are 2,179 licensed massage therapists in Idaho now, with an average of 280 new applicants a year. Toryanski said it would cost Idaho State Police $37 per person to do the checks, with the fee charged to the applicant. However, the state would have to spend about $30,000 upfront on computer costs, additional board expenses, and part-time help to process the background checks for current licensees, according to the fiscal note provided with the bill.
The committee voted unanimously to print the bill, clearing the way for a hearing, although there were some questions. Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, wondered why the board would check applicants for all criminal history rather than narrow it down to “more pertinent offenses that could be of concern,” if the stated goal is to weed out people with sex crimes convictions.
Toryanski replied that the board could consider other crimes that reflect on a person’s character, such as battery or domestic abuse, in making licensure decision.
“The information that comes back from the background investigation, it will provide the board with a wide-ranging information on whether the applicant has had any problems with the law,” he said. “And then they’ll take that into consideration and determine whether that applies for what the licensee will be doing, kind of a holistic approach. Is this person fit for this kind of profession?”
Toryanski said, in response to a question from Rep. Karey Hanks, R-Saint Anthony, that there have been incidents involving massage therapists that led to this bill.
“I expect if this (bill) is printed, you will hear about that from members of the public during the hearing,” he said.
Eight chiropractors and three massage therapists had been disciplined in Idaho in 2016 as of October, mostly for billing-related reasons. Two cases involved sexual misconduct — a massage therapist in eastern Idaho who had a consensual sexual relationship with a client and Robert Max Johnson, a Twin Falls chiropractor who was recently sentenced to four months in jail for sexually exploiting women while giving them massages.
Johnson was a chiropractor, and the state Board of Chiropractors suspended his license to practice after he was arrested. He had not been licensed as a massage therapist.
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