Ex-massage school owner gets probation for nude photographs

Tue, Jun 9, 2009    to del.icio.us

He was convicted of photographing his clients in the nude and inappropriately touching one of his students during massages, but Bruce Pommerening can continue to practice massage therapy.

He just can't teach it, an Ottawa County judge said Monday.

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Family members of victims and those who worked alongside the former Zeeland massage school owner say the sentence handed down by Judge Calvin Bosman left them unnerved.

"It's creepy," one victim's mother said outside the Grand Haven courtroom where Pommerening, 50, was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to register as a sex offender.

Pommerening was convicted in April of photographing nude or partially nude female clients at the Lakeside Academy of Therapeutic Massage, a school he owned and operated at the time. The school closed in July 2008.

Testimony during Pommerening's trial showed that investigators found images of two women on a computer confiscated from the school. One image shows a woman's breasts as she is getting off a massage table.

A third victim testified during the trial that Pommerening inappropriately touched her breasts, buttocks and groin during one-on-one massages and class demonstrations.

The defense attempted to show that Pommerening's son, Andrew, may have been responsible for photographing the women and saving the images to the computer. Bruce Pommerening testified that he lied to a detective about capturing the photos himself to protect his son.

But a jury found Bruce Pommerening guilty of five charges — four felonies for capturing images of unclothed persons and a high-court misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

On Monday, one former student of Pommerening's said she felt disturbed that he would face no jail time and instead be allowed to resume his practice.