STATE OF TASMANIA v SAHIL SHARMA 6 OCTOBER 2026
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Sahil Sharma, you have been found guilty by unanimous jury verdict of five counts of indecent assault, committed when you were employed as a massage therapist at Jun Lin Spa in Hobart, between February and November 2023. I must sentence you on the basis of facts that I find proved beyond reasonable doubt, being facts consistent with the jury verdicts. It is apparent, however, that to return the verdicts of guilty, the jury must have accepted that each of the complainants gave evidence that was truthful and reliable in all essential respects. I also accept the evidence of each of the complainants as to the incidents. In my view, each complainant gave obviously truthful evidence, and the tendency evidence strongly corroborated each complainant’s account. I will sentence on the basis of their respective accounts.
I should add that, without hesitation, I reject your evidence and your claims that the only form of touching was in accordance with appropriate massage techniques. Your evidence presented to me as contrived.
I shall refer to each of the complainants by their initials in these comments, to protect their privacy. The first complainant whom you indecently assaulted, was NP. She attended, seeking a massage on her neck as she was experiencing pain in that area. During the massage, you suggested to NP that you undertake some techniques associated with Thai massage. NP indicated she did not enjoy Thai massage. You said it would be the most effective way to allow you to stretch her tight neck and loosen it up.
At one point during the massage, you got onto the massage bed, without indicating to NP that was your intention, and you tried to stretch her back and neck area. As you did this, the towel that was covering her dropped away. You then asked her to stand, claiming that you were unable to crack her back and neck properly. NP stood, facing a wall. She was wearing her underpants but had no towel. When she asked you if she could wrap a towel around her, you said, “No, it’s going to be very quick”. You wrapped your arms underneath her armpits and placed your knee onto her buttocks and pulled her backwards. Your knee was positioned right on top of NP’s inter gluteal cleft and you pressed hard against it. This went on for about a minute.
You then asked NP to return to the massage bed. NP positioned herself lying on her stomach, but you asked her to turn over onto her back. She covered herself with the towel, but you pushed the towel down exposing her breasts, close to the point of her nipples. NP felt uncomfortable and at risk of having her nipples exposed. She pulled the towel back up. You again lowered the towel to near the point of her nipples and massaged her breasts. You used both hands and you were massaging quite low on her breasts, although did not touch her nipple area. NP found the entire experience very uncomfortable, and at one point, said to you, “Nothing hurts there, don’t worry about that area, focus on my neck please”. You then moved your focus back onto her neck area.
Her level of discomfort was exacerbated by the fact that you were not acting professionally and you were talking about personal matters whilst you were massaging her, including telling her that you had children and that your wife was pregnant and that you were very close to the owners of Jun Lin. NP felt stuck and did not know what to do.
The second complainant whom you indecently assaulted, was “GO”. She attended an appointment at Jun Lin Massage on 1 May 2023. As the massage commenced, GO was lying on her stomach, with a towel covering her lower half. You pulled the towel down so far that all of GO’s bottom was fully exposed. GO felt uncomfortable and asked you to pull it back up. You made a rather odd comment, asking her what was wrong and asking her whether she was shy. You pulled the towel back up a little but then proceeded to massage her glutes in an unusual fashion. You placed one hand on each cheek and then simultaneously moved your hands in a circular motion resulting in GO’s bottom cheeks being fully parted. GO was not covered by a towel at this point. GO felt very vulnerable and uncomfortable.
Whilst massaging in the area of her bottom, you also lowered your hand between her legs and your hand brushed past her vagina, from the rear. Whilst you were massaging GO in this way, you were making several comments such as “Do you like that” or “How is that”. GO described that it felt overtly sexual and she was scared and wanted to leave. She felt trapped and did not feel safe to challenge you.
Later in the massage you had GO turn onto her back. You pulled the towel that was covering her breasts down below her breasts, fully exposing her nipples. When she pulled the towel back up, you said something like “Don’t you want that”. You then proceeded to massage her breasts. It was not around the pectoral muscles, but down onto her breast tissue. You used circular motions to massage her actual breasts, although you did not touch her nipples.
The third complainant who you indecently assaulted, was “GJ”. GJ attended for a massage on 10 June 2023. GJ explained to you that she wanted a massage that focused on her right lower back, her right glute and her right leg as she was experiencing some sciatica pain in that area. After GJ had explained that to you, you suggested that she should remove her underwear entirely, so it was not an impediment to you using long strokes to massage her lower back, glute and upper leg. GJ told you that she felt uncomfortable with that idea and said she had not previously been asked to remove underwear for a massage, despite having the same area massaged regularly. You continued to suggest that the massage would be more effective if she removed her underwear. Eventually, GJ was persuaded to remove her underwear for the massage.
When the massage commenced, GJ was lying facing down on the massage table and had placed a towel over herself. You commenced massaging her back. You then asked her to turn onto her left side so that you could access her right side. Instead of holding the towel in a manner which provided a barrier between you and her, you simply removed the towel and did not position it to afford her privacy. You stood in front of her and as she rolled onto her left side, she was fully exposed to you.
Once GJ was on her left side, you placed the towel across her back, to the rear of her but did not make any endeavour to cover the front of her body. You were still standing in front of her. From that position, you lent over her and began to massage her back, bottom and legs. The front of her body was fully exposed to you.
During the massage, you repositioned GJ’s legs on several occasions. Initially you repositioned her right leg, which had been stacked on top of her left leg, by moving it backwards, leaving her legs split open. This exposed her vaginal area to you. You then proceeded to massage her leg using long slow strokes and each time you massaged her leg, your hand moved near the side of her vagina and contacted the side of her vagina. You then moved her legs again. This time, you pushed the left leg forward, causing her legs to open even further and expose her vaginal area more so. You continued to massage her from the front and as your hands moved up and down her legs, you continually contacted the side of her vagina. At one point, when you were massaging her glute, your hand touched her intergluteal cleft. Your hands did not penetrate the buttocks or vagina, but you brushed over those areas on several occasions.
Later in the massage, you had GJ lie on her back. She had repositioned the towel over herself, but you pulled the towel down, exposing her breasts. GJ grabbed the towel and pulled it back up so that her nipples were not exposed and directed you to massage her shoulders and not her breasts or chest area.
At several points throughout the massage, you asked GJ “Does it feel good”. At one point, you noticed that she was shaking. GJ explained that she was shaking because she was fearful of what was occurring. When you asked her about the shaking, in an effort to have you desist, she told you it was hurting. You did not change what you were doing.
The fourth victim of your indecent conduct was “EC”. She attended Jun Lin Massage on 13 June 2023. EC had just had serious abdominal surgery and was experiencing considerable discomfort. She attended for a lymphatic drainage massage to assist with her surgical recovery. She had utilised this form of massage previously. EC explained to you at the beginning of the massage process what she needed. She explained that she had a lot of swelling and fluid build up following the surgery and wanted to encourage the fluid to move.
At one point during the massage, whilst EC was lying on her back, you asked her whether you could you lower the towel that was covering her. EC agreed to this as having experienced lymphatic drainage massage previously, she understood that there were lymph nodes along her collarbone and upper pectoral area and was expecting those areas, and her neck and jaw, to be massaged. Instead of lowering the towel to an area that allowed you to gain access to the upper chest area, you lowered the towel down to EC’s belly button, thereby completely exposing her breasts.
During the massage, you touched the whole of EC’s breasts. You did not fiddle with her nipples, but your fingers touched her nipples as you massaged her breast area. EC described that the “whole breast, both sides” was involved in the massage and you were utilising long strokes that went from her head down to her belly. EC found such massage techniques very odd because her previous experience of lymphatic draining massage was that the fluid was moved up the body, not down the body.
EC questioned, to some degree, your technique by reminding you that she was seeking a lymphatic drainage massage. She said, however, that she did not feel that it was safe for her to directly challenge you about what you were doing because given she was post-surgery, she had limited mobility and felt vulnerable.
At another stage in the massage, you asked EC whether you could work on her leg and groin area. Appreciating that there were lymph nodes at the top of her thigh adjacent to the groin, EC agreed to that. As you massaged down her body towards her hips, you asked her if you could move her underwear. EC did not think that was particularly unusual as she had had her underwear adjusted during a massage previously, to allow access to certain muscles. She lifted her hips and bottom from the table, expecting you to adjust her underwear a little, to allow you to access the lymph nodes at the top of her thighs. Instead of adjusting her underwear, you removed it completely. EC did not have a towel and was completely exposed.
You massaged her in long strokes from her right side, across the centre of her belly and down towards to her left groin and hip area. In doing so, you allowed your hand to touch her pubic mound on several occasions. You then repositioned her legs, initially placing her left foot against her right knee causing her left leg to splay out to the side. Because she did not have a towel, this exposed her genital area. You continued to massage her with long strokes to the lower belly and inside her thigh. Your fingers touched her pubic hair, and your hand touched her pubic mound. Each time you stroked EC, your hands and fingers moved closer and closer to her vagina.
You then repositioned EC again. This time, you pulled her left leg out straight and put her right foot up to her left knee. You again repeated the massage strokes, although this time your hand did not move as close to her vagina as previously. Nevertheless, you still touched her pubic mound and pubic hair.
You then attempted to moved EC’s legs so that her two feet were together and both knees were splayed out to the side. Obviously, had you been able to do this, EC’s entire vaginal area would have been exposed to you. EC refused to allow you to do this. Throughout the entire massage, EC felt very uncomfortable and was fearful of what may occur. She felt that she could not do anything because she was in pain from her surgery and unable to move quickly. Throughout the massage, you also made a number of inappropriate comments to EC. You insinuated that her husband would be happy with the results of her abdominal surgery.
EC was so concerned about the incident that the following day she went to a different Jun Lin massage location and spoke to another massage therapist about what had occurred. She was encouraged to make a complaint and did so. She contacted management and, in turn, she spoke to a friend who was a police officer and ultimately, a formal complaint was made to police. That resulted in a police investigation in respect to you. It led to the other victims being discovered, as they too had made complainants to the management of Jun Lin about your conduct.
The fifth victim of your indecent conduct was “AJ”. AJ attended Jun Lin Massage on 7 November 2023, after the police investigation had commenced. She had had a massage with you on a previous occasion and although she sensed some unusual aspects associated with that massage, she did not consider anything particularly untoward had occurred.
On this occasion, AJ asked for a relaxation massage explaining that she had tension on her neck. You suggested to AJ that a lymphatic drainage massage may be of more benefit to her given her levels of stress. AJ agreed to that type of massage.
Once AJ was lying on the massage table, you engaged in most inappropriate conversation with her, given she was there for a professional massage. Essentially, you asked her whether she liked drinking and suggested that she might like to have a drink with you. You also told her that you had started offering massages from your home and that if she came back to your home with you, you would give her a massage at a cheaper rate. You also said that if she was interested in learning massage, you would teach her at your home. You told her that you could teach her the “special technique of lymphatic drainage” and suggested that you could learn the technique together by practising on each other.
Obviously, this conversation made AJ feel very uncomfortable. As you proceeded to massage her, you touched both of her breasts and ran your hand down her stomach, towards her groin. You lowered her underwear and you touched her to the inner thighs, running your hands along her inner thigh in an upward and downward motion, reaching up to the groin area. She described your hands as travelling within a couple of centimetres of her underwear line.
AJ said that she felt uncomfortable throughout the whole massage. She said the way in which you were massaging her, against the background of the comments that you had made to her about sharing a drink together, and her attending at your home to learn massage, made her feel that the massage was eroticised and in no way therapeutic. AJ said that she felt scared and intimidated and felt “frozen” and unable to stop it.
Mr Sharma, your conduct involved a terrible breach of trust. Each of the complainants had attended at the massage centre, seeking assistance for various complaints. They had a right to be treated professionally and with dignity and respect. You did the opposite. You took the opportunity to indecently assault them in various ways and left each of them feeling scared, humiliated, embarrassed and ashamed. Your conduct has left indelible marks upon their lives. I have received victim impact material from EC and GO. The fact I have not received impact material from the other complainants does not mean that they have not suffered because of your conduct. Indeed, it is reasonable to conclude, given the way they gave their evidence and what they said about how your conduct made them feel, that each of them has suffered considerably as a consequence of your conduct.
EC describes that she has suffered both physically and emotionally because of your offending. Following the indecent assault, she was very tense and stressed which caused issues in terms of healing from her abdominal surgery. She struggled to sleep. She is now hyper-vigilant in social situations. Her confidence and sense of security have been badly affected. She experiences anxiety and flashbacks. She has not been able to return to massage, which is a tool she frequently utilised to assist her after sporting endeavours. As a consequence, she has been unable to train and compete at the level she previously did. She finds herself doubting herself and second guesses her decisions. Her work has been affected. Her personal relationships have been affected. Her sporting endeavours have been affected. The way she parents her children has been affected. It would be fair to say that your conduct has permeated every aspect of her life.
Similarly, GO speaks of feelings of shame, humiliation, anxiety and fear. She often experiences intrusive thoughts. Her sleep is disturbed. Her mood and motivation have been adversely affected. She has had trouble sleeping, which has had a flow on effect to her concentration at work and in her studies. She has felt shame and humiliation, even though she, of course, is in no way to blame for your conduct. She, too, is now hyper-vigilant, and her self-esteem has been badly affected.
The type of effects that both GO and EC describe are sadly all too common in cases of sexual assault. Crimes of this nature cause significant psychological and emotional harm. People who are minded to committing these types of crimes, need to understand that for many victims, the impacts of a crime of this nature can be lifelong.
Mr Sharma, every crime of sexual assault, including indecent assault, is a serious crime. Here, your conduct extended to unreasonably exposing your clients and touching their breasts and genital areas. Whilst your conduct did not occasion any physical harm, it should not be seen as “mere touching”. It was an invasion of your client’s bodily integrity and their right to be respected. It involved a terrible breach of trust. People within our community are entitled to attend at massage centres and expect to be safe. You abused the trust that was placed in you and put these five clients through a harrowing experience.
Sexual crimes, including indecent assault, are far too common and they cause significant concern across our community. General deterrence, that is deterring others who are minded to behave in the way you behaved, and denunciation, are significant aspects of sentencing. This includes deterring others, who may be engaged in the massage industry, from this type of outrageous conduct.
Turning to matters personal to you, you are 36 years of age. You have no relevant prior convictions. You came to Australia in 2018 with your wife, who was studying for a master’s degree in information technology at university. She was the primary visa holder, holding a student visa. I am told that your permanent visa has now been revoked and you are on a bridging visa pending the outcome of these proceedings. When you came to Australia, you and your wife had one child who has since joined you in this country. Whilst here, you have had a further three children with your wife.
You now live in Melbourne, having relocated there at the beginning of this year. You are the primary income earner for your family. You have undertaken a variety of positions of employment since arriving in Australia. They have mainly been in labour-based industries. I am told you began working at the massage centre almost by accident. The owner of the massage centre was your landlord. When she became aware that you were without employment, she offered you a position at the massage centre. I accept that your training was very limited. You were offered four days of training before you were expected to commence performing massages upon clients. I accept that it was never your intention to become a massage therapist and it is unlikely that you will ever return to that industry.
Upon your relocation to Melbourne, you were working as a delivery driver. You have family on the mainland, and you were also undertaking some work with a cousin in his cleaning and maintenance business. You hope to be able to return to that work in due course. Your wife has found it very difficult to cope whilst you have been in Tasmania, dealing with these charges. She has been unable to work because she has had to care for the children. Financially, there has been a significant impact upon the family. Your wife does have family in Australia, but I am told that they reside in Newcastle, Perth and Sydney and are not immediately available to provide her with assistance. I have received an email from your wife which sets out some of the difficulties that she has experienced whilst you have been in Tasmania dealing with these matters.
It can be accepted that a period of imprisonment will be particularly difficult for your family, but it cannot be said that the impact upon your family is in the category of being special or exceptional. It is a common consequence of imprisonment that the family suffers. Sadly, that is part of the price that is paid for criminal conduct of this nature. You should have thought about that before you acted as you did. It is noteworthy that management had notified you that complaints had been made to Jun Lin about your conduct, and yet you persevered with it. You have not accepted responsibility for your actions. You have displayed no remorse for your victims. The distress that you and your young family are now experiencing is a direct consequence of your conduct.
I take into account that it is likely that your visa will be cancelled upon your ultimate release from custody, and if you wish to avoid adverse impact flowing to your wife and children, it may be necessary that you and your wife separate so that she can remain in Australia and pursue further study. I am told your primary concern is your wife and children and you are prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect them.
In my view, it is inevitable that a period of imprisonment must be imposed upon you. Conduct of this nature is simply unacceptable. Having regard to the entirety of the circumstances, however, I am satisfied that it is appropriate that I suspend a portion of the period of imprisonment I intend to impose.
I make the following orders. You are convicted of five counts of indecent assault. I impose one sentence. You are sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 16 months, commencing 28 September 2026. I suspend the last eight months of that period of imprisonment on condition that for a period of two years, you commit no offence punishable by imprisonment. I am not satisfied that you are not a risk of committing a reportable offence into the future and I therefore direct that your name be placed on the Register, pursuant to the Community Protection (Offenders Reporting) Act and that you comply with the conditions for a period of four years following your release from custody.