A fourth woman has filed a lawsuit against Homewood's Escape Day Spa and former massage therapist Matthew Owen Jones, alleging he sexually assaulted her during a 45-minute deep-tissue massage and that spa management kept assigning him clients despite knowing about earlier complaints. The woman, identified in court records only to protect her identity, says she asked Jones to focus on her ankles, neck, and shoulders, but he instead touched her intimate body areas, exposed parts of her body without consent, and repeatedly pressed his body against her during the session.
The lawsuit, filed on September 15, 2026 in Jefferson County Circuit Court, accuses Jones of assault, battery, false imprisonment, invasion of privacy, and other misconduct, while accusing Escape Day Spa of negligence, wantonness, negligent hiring and supervision, negligent entrustment, and breach of fiduciary duty, according to WBRC. The woman says she was afraid and in shock during the encounter and left the spa only after dressing and paying for the service. She is seeking compensatory and other damages to be determined by a jury.
Escape Day Spa filed an answer on September 28, 2026 denying the material allegations and any negligent, willful, or wanton conduct, per the same report. The spa argued it had no reasonable basis to believe Jones would commit a criminal act, said it took reasonable steps to prevent criminal activity by third parties, and contended Jones was not acting as its employee during the events described in the complaint. The spa has asked the court to dismiss the woman's claims and award it costs.
A Pattern Lawyers Say Began Over a Year Ago
According to the station's report, this is now the fourth lawsuit filed against Jones and Escape Day Spa over alleged misconduct. The first woman to come forward says Jones assaulted her during a massage in July 2025 and that she notified spa management the same day. The spa reportedly gave her a refund and offered a free massage with another therapist, but it continued allowing Jones to see clients afterward — even though, per the same account, Jones held an expired Alabama massage therapy license at the time of that appointment, which was reinstated later that month.
Two more women, filing in July 2026, allege Jones assaulted them during separate massage appointments. One reported an incident from a January 2026 appointment, and the other from June 2026. One of the plaintiffs has said the alleged assault happened during a couples massage while her husband was nearby. The lawsuits claim Escape Day Spa kept assigning clients to Jones despite already knowing about the earlier misconduct allegations.
A separate civil complaint, filed by the Birmingham firm Singleton Schreiber on behalf of one of the plaintiffs, lays out 14 counts in Jefferson County Circuit Court and alleges Escape Day Spa employed Jones without a valid license on file, failed to establish client safety policies, and took no action after an assault was reported. The firm said in its news release that the client was assaulted during a routine appointment by a therapist who should not have been left unsupervised. That complaint, detailed by AL.com, describes a 90-minute 2025 appointment in which Jones allegedly touched all of a client's private areas while she was unable to physically resist due to fear and shock, and notes she reported the incident to spa management that same day.
Criminal Charges and Jail Records
Homewood Police arrested Jones, 44, of Sterrett, Alabama, in July 2026, and he was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse. Jefferson County Jail records cited by AL.com show the charges stem from alleged incidents in July 2025 and January 2026; Jones was booked into the county jail on July 9, 2026, and later released on a $30,000 bond. Under Alabama Code § 13A-6-66, sexual abuse in the first degree is a Class C felony involving non-consensual sexual contact by forcible compulsion or with a physically helpless victim, carrying a penalty of up to 10 years in prison upon conviction, according to Justia. A felony sex offense conviction in Alabama also triggers mandatory lifetime sex offender registration under state law.
Separately, under Alabama Administrative Code r. 532-X-5-.03, engaging in or attempting to engage a client in sexual activity, including genital contact, within a client-therapist relationship is explicitly classified as prohibited professional misconduct subject to board revocation or suspension, per the Legal Information Institute. Escape Day Spa, located at 100 Broadway Street in Homewood, was co-founded by massage therapist Carrie Holley and skin care therapist Alicia Liddon as a local wellness retreat offering massages, facials, and body treatments, according to FACES of Birmingham.
Statewide Oversight Changes Underway
The allegations against Jones surface as Alabama has been tightening oversight of the massage therapy industry. New administrative rules from the Alabama Massage Therapy Licensing Board, effective in late 2025, mandated fingerprint-based national background checks and raised initial establishment licensing fees to $350, according to the Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals. The regulations also instituted mandatory continuing education covering legal boundaries and human trafficking awareness.
Under Alabama Senate Bill 136, state lawmakers also voted to transfer licensing and regulatory oversight of massage therapists from a standalone board to the Alabama Department of Public Health, converting the prior licensing board into an advisory council, per the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation. Legal research published by Sokolove Law points to a national trend of civil lawsuits against spas and massage franchises alleging management routinely failed to report client sexual assault allegations to law enforcement or remove accused therapists from schedules, with plaintiffs across multiple states alleging spa owners prioritized business operations over client safety.
