A month after the Deschutes County District Attorney dropped charges due to insufficient evidence, a grand jury has indicted a Sisters spa owner on multiple sex abuse charges after 10 additional victims came forward during an investigation.
District Attorney John Hummel announced the 21-count indictment on Wednesday against Hop in the Spa owner Michael Boyle.
Boyle, 60, was arrested in late June after an investigation into illegal massages at his business, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.
In late July, Hummel announced he had dropped all the criminal charges against Boyle, saying “I determined the state could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Boyle touched the complaining witness in the area of her body that would constitute a crime.”
But in the weeks following the initial complaint, detectives looked into allegations brought forward from 10 more victims.
After reviewing the evidence, Hummel brought the case to the grand jury that ultimately indicted Boyle on 13 counts of practicing massage without a license, two counts of first-degree sex abuse, five counts of third-degree sex abuse and one count of fourth-degree assault.
“Thanks to the first woman who reported her concerns about Mr. Boyle to law enforcement, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Detectives were able to uncover crimes Mr. Boyle committed against other customers of his business,” Hummel said in a statement. “Her courageous act in reporting this matter protects potentially hundreds of other women from being touched inappropriately by Mr. Boyle. Our community owes her our thanks”
Hop in the Spa, located on Sisters’ main street, offered a unique spa experience in which guests relaxed with microbrew soaks.
Boyle did not return a call this afternoon seeking comment.
He is due in court on Sept. 23.
