A massage therapist who worked at businesses in Strongsville and Westlake is facing rape, kidnapping, and sexual battery charges after Strongsville police officers arrested him on August 17. Shadi Shamali was booked into custody the following day, and detectives now say they believe other potential victims have not yet come forward.
Strongsville police officers arrested Shamali on a charge of rape on August 17, according to the Strongsville Police Department. Jail booking records show he was taken into custody and formally booked into the Cuyahoga County Jail on August 18, according to booking records reviewed by the department. By August 31, WKYC Channel 3 reported that additional charges of kidnapping and sexual battery had been filed against Shamali, expanding the case beyond the initial rape charge announced by police.
Where Shamali Worked With Clients
Shamali practiced as a massage therapist at Massage Envy in Westlake until July, and also worked at Simply Blissful Wellness in Strongsville, the station's report notes. Strongsville police detectives are investigating allegations of additional sexual offenses involving Shamali and are asking anyone with information, or anyone who believes they may have been a victim, to come forward. Detectives can be reached at [email protected], and the department says the investigation is tied to report number 2026-019358.
Police detectives believe other individuals connected to Shamali may not yet have come forward, and the department has pledged to handle any information sensitively while investigating it thoroughly. That call for additional witnesses or victims spans the multiple suburban locations where Shamali worked, reflecting the broad reach detectives are trying to cover as the case develops.
An Active License With No Prior Discipline
Public licensing records show Shamali has held an active Ohio Massage Therapist license, number 33.021926, since October 10, 2014, with an expiration date of January 1, 2028. As of August 31, the license showed no prior board disciplinary actions on record, according to eLicense Ohio. Massage therapists in Ohio are licensed and regulated as health care practitioners by the State Medical Board of Ohio, which under Ohio Revised Code § 4731.22 has the authority to summarily suspend or permanently revoke a practitioner's license upon finding clear evidence of sexual misconduct or felony charges. It remains an open question whether the board will pursue that route against Shamali's license, and whether additional complaints from other jurisdictions could lead to further grand jury indictments.
State Medical Board of Ohio regulations also impose a mandatory duty on licensed health care practitioners and their employers to report known or suspected sexual misconduct by colleagues directly to the board. Administrative disciplinary actions by the board proceed independently of any criminal court case, meaning Shamali's license status and his criminal prosecution could move on separate tracks.
What Ohio Law Says About the Charges
Under Ohio Revised Code § 2907.02, rape is classified as a first-degree felony carrying a mandatory prison sentence of between 3 and 11 years, along with mandatory lifetime Tier III sex offender registration. Sexual battery, charged under Ohio Revised Code § 2907.03, is a third-degree felony carrying 9 to 60 months in prison and mandatory sex offender registration, defined under Ohio law as sexual conduct where consent is absent or a victim's ability to appraise the situation is substantially impaired.
Part of a Wider Pattern of Scrutiny
Shamali's arrest arrives amid heightened regional attention on commercial massage businesses in Cuyahoga County. In August 2025, Northeast Ohio human-trafficking task forces raided multiple massage establishments across Strongsville, North Olmsted, and Lorain, seizing financial and business records, as Hoodline reported at the time. Strongsville City Council responded by passing tighter oversight rules in February, requiring city-issued licenses, credential displays, and detailed customer record-keeping at local massage establishments, with misdemeanor penalties and fines of up to $1,000 for noncompliance.
The investigation into Shamali remains active, and detectives have not indicated a timeline for additional charges or arrests. Anyone with information relevant to report number 2026-019358 is encouraged to contact the Strongsville Police Detective Bureau.
