Lawrence massage therapist re-arrested in rape case, bond set at $500,000

A second Douglas County case involving a massage therapist accused of sexual assault is now forcing a sharper public-safety question: how can clients know whether a provider is properly licensed, vetted and monitored before they walk into a treatment room? In Lawrence, police re-arrested Joshua Salazar on June 18 after prosecutors charged him with raping a 19-year-old client at Lawrence Thai Massage, and investigators are now asking whether other patrons were harmed.

Salazar, who lives in Lawrence and was due to turn 32 on June 21, was being held on $500,000 bond and had to surrender his passport. He was charged with rape by force or fear, a felony under Kansas statute 21-5503 that covers sexual intercourse when a victim is overcome by force or fear. He was first arrested after the April 29 incident at Lawrence Thai Massage, 951 E. 23rd St., then released while investigators continued gathering evidence.

Lawrence police said they were dispatched moments after the reported incident, and crime scene technicians collected evidence at the business. Salazar was later taken into custody under warrant at 1461 U.S. Highway 40, near Teepee Junction. Police also asked anyone who visited Lawrence Thai Massage at the corner of 23rd Street and Haskell Avenue and experienced inappropriate behavior to contact investigators at 785-843-0250 and reference incident L26022843, a sign that authorities believe there could be additional witnesses or victims.

The case lands in a county already grappling with another allegation against a male massage therapist. The earlier Douglas County case involves Aaron Paul Borger at Om Grown Yoga & Wellness Collective in Baldwin City. In that matter, a 16-page affidavit described allegations spanning March 2024 through April 2026, and seven other women reported similar experiences. The woman’s report helped prompt the additional accounts, and the case remains active.

The broader policy backdrop is just as troubling. A 2023 Kansas Legislative Research Department memo said Kansas law did not impose statewide massage therapy licensure or state oversight at that time, leaving a patchwork system instead of a uniform licensing structure. Kansas Senate Bill 253 in 2025 proposed a massage therapist licensure act, but Douglas County residents are still left with limited state-level safeguards while the county’s population reached an estimated 120,920 on July 1, 2025.

For clients, the practical warning signs are now impossible to ignore: a provider without clear licensing, unclear business ownership, pressure to ignore boundaries, or any sexualized conduct during treatment should be treated as an urgent red flag. In a county of more than 120,000 people, the two cases have made one thing plain: public confidence in massage businesses now depends on stronger vetting, faster reporting and a system that can catch problems before the next client walks in.