Sentence of Mendota Massage Therapist Upheld in Sex Offender Case

A Mendota resident and former massage therapist convicted of criminal sexual conduct last year will face his 11-year sentence, according to a Court of Appeals ruling Tuesday.

Lawrence Martin Valencour, 63, was convicted last December of six counts of nonconsensual sexual contact and given the maximum sentence.

Valencour worked as a during the fall of 2008, when six victims report nonconsensual sexual contact occurred during massage sessions with him.

These incidents occurred when no other employees were present at the business, according to a criminal complaint.

Three victims initially came forward to the business owner and police, and three more came forward in the course of the investigation by the Apple Valley Police Department.

Four of the victims reported Valencour put his penis in contact with their hands during their massages, according to the criminal complaint. Victims also reported various other forms of contact with their genitals and breasts. 

One victim said during testimony that she felt “completely violated.”

Valencour waived his right to a jury trial and was tried by a district court judge. 

After the guilty verdict, his lawyer claimed that the prosecution did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the contact was nonconsensual and that Valencour used coercion.

But the Court of Appeals decided in an unpublished ruling that enough evidence was presented to support the prosecution’s case beyond a reasonable doubt. The decision also states that due to Valencour’s size (over 200 pounds), the level of undress of the women, and their isolation with him in the business that coercion was used.

Valencour will serve at least two-thirds of the sentence in custody at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility, after which he is eligible for supervised release, according to .

He will be required to register as a predatory offender and complete a sex offender treatment program as terms of his sentence. A fine of $36,000 was stayed. 

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