The State of Iowa has sanctioned a massage therapist whom it unwittingly licensed in 2018 despite a history of sex crimes.

The Iowa Board of Massage Therapy has issued a warning to Abelardo “AJ” Rodriguez of Iowa City and suspended his ability to practice for five years, after which he can apply for reinstatement.

The available public records show that last year the board issued an emergency order suspending the license of Rodriguez, citing a complaint from a female patient who alleged Rodriguez touched her inappropriately during an appointment.

The board also alleged that when Rodriguez applied for a massage-therapy license in 2018, he failed to voluntarily disclose his 2012 and 2016 criminal convictions for harassment.

Court records indicate that in September 2015, a woman complained to Iowa City police that Rodriguez had been sending her unwanted messages on Facebook, as well as “multiple lewd photos of himself.” On Nov. 30, 2015, he allegedly came into the victim’s place of employment and exposed himself to her on two different occasions. Court records indicate that the case resulted in Rodriguez pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of harassment.

According to the board, Rodriguez later obtained a massage therapy license from the state and began working at Rodriguez Bodywork in Iowa City.

During a massage appointment in March 2023, he allegedly massaged the breasts of a female client for 15 minutes without the woman’s consent. The board alleges that Rodriguez had previously told the woman he was certified in full chest and breast massage and presented her with a consent form to sign if she was interested in the service. The woman declined.

According to the board, Rodriguez later admitted to a board investigator that he massaged the woman’s breasts but said he did so with the woman’s oral consent. He allegedly stated that he had intended to get the woman’s written consent but neglected to do so.

It was when the woman’s subsequent complaint to the board was being investigated that the board concluded Rodriguez had intentionally withheld or misrepresented information about his past criminal convictions. The board said information about those crimes, if disclosed, “may have impacted his ability to become licensed” in Iowa as a massage therapist.

It’s not clear why the board didn’t learn of the criminal convictions in 2018 when Rodriguez applied for a license. The arrests are a matter of public record and details of at least one of the cases are readily available through Iowa Courts Online.

As a result of the 2023 allegations, Rodriguez was charged by the board with improper sexual contact with a client, engaging in unethical conduct, fraud in procuring a license and engaging in conduct that subverts or attempts to subvert a board investigation.

The board also concluded Rodriguez’s conduct posed “an immediate danger to the public health, safety, and welfare” and voted to impose an immediate, indefinite suspension of his license, pending a final decision in the case.

In five years, Rodriguez will be allowed to apply for reinstatement by showing the basis for “the revocation of his license” – board documents refer to the sanction as both a revocation and a suspension — no longer exists and that reinstatement is in the public interest.

Prior to any reinstatement, Rodriguez must undergo a psychosexual evaluation and comply with any recommendations for treatment or training.

Governor Kim Reynolds on Monday announced several appointments to Iowa’s various boards and commissions, which include a few area residents.

Ofelia Rumbo of Buena Vista County and Nancy McDowell of O’Brien County were appointed to the State Workforce Development Board…Amanda Miller of Pocahontas County was appointed to the Board of Sign Language Interpreters and Transliterators…Sam Kooiker of O’Brien County was selected to the Civil Rights Commission…and Loretta Laubach of O’Brien County was chosen to be part of the Real Estate Appraiser Examining Board.

All of those appointments ARE subject to Senate confirmation.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Activists across Iowa protested a state immigration law that was set to take effect July 1.

The law would allow law enforcement to file criminal charges against people with outstanding deportation orders or who previously had been denied entry to the U.S.

The law is currently not in effect due to a court challenge.

Max Villatoro was one of the people at the Iowa City rally to oppose SF 2340 on Monday night. He was there even though, in a way, he said he has nothing to fear from this law. That’s because deportation, the worst thing he could imagine, is something he’s already been through.

“They call [it] separation of family, but I will say it’s like destruction of family,” said Villatoro.

Villatoro was deported in 2015. He missed seven and a half years of his kids’ lives.

“When I came back, they’re already grown up, both of them.”

He is now in the U.S. legally, has a work permit, and is making progress toward being a permanent resident.

Critics of this new law worry that people like Villatoro— people who are here legally but who have been deported before—would be in danger of being removed from the country again.

“It would put people at risk who have been deported or have previously been removed from the country, of being removed again,” said Yaneli Canales, Villatoro’s niece.

Critics also say the law would encourage racial profiling. Manny Galvez said he’s a citizen, but he believes that’s not what a police officer would assume.

“It’s going to be so scary, because what they’re going to see in my face—they’re going to see my face, my skin, [and] most likely, they’re going to think I don’t have a document,” said Galvez.

Finally, critics echoed the judge who put the law on pause by saying federal immigration law preempts anything on the state level.

“Iowa cannot deport people. This is a federal issue,” said Galvez.

“We need to fix the immigration situation in this country. And the best [solution] is immigration reform,” he added.

TV9 reached out to Governor Kim Reynolds’ office to get a statement in response to this story. A representative shared the following:

“As the Attorney General’s office argued, the illegal re-entry legislation does not affect those who are in the country legally. The legislation makes it a state crime, just as it is federally, to re-enter Iowa if an individual has been denied admission or deported before, or left the country while under order of deportation. Every state is now a border state because of the Biden Administration’s open border policies.”

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