Sexual battery charges against a Hollister man police say was
posing as a chiropractor were dismissed by a judge Wednesday for a
lack of probable cause based on the evidence.
Hollister – Sexual battery charges against a Hollister man police say was posing as a chiropractor were dismissed by a judge Wednesday for a lack of probable cause based on the evidence.
Armando Pulido Medina, 53, was arrested by Hollister police last October after a 35-year-old woman accused him of penetrating her with his finger while giving her a massage for back problems, according to police.
District Attorney John Sarsfield charged Medina with sexual battery by fraud in April, according to court documents. Sarsfield’s complaint stated Medina touched the woman in a sexual manner and that the touching served a professional purpose associated with a massage he was giving her for back problems.
The charges stemmed from Medina’s arrest last October, when Hollister police arrested him for two felonies – sexual battery and sexual penetration with a foreign object, according to police. He was taken into custody at his Hollister home, where he worked as a chiropractor/masseur and generated business by word of mouth, according to police.
While Medina admitted to practicing chiropractic therapy without a certified license, his attorney, Miguel Hernandez, said a judge ruled during a preliminary hearing that there was not was enough evidence to proceed with the sexual battery case.
“The evidence did not amount to the crime he was charged with,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said Medina has been advised not to practice chiropractic therapy without a license and is no longer running the business from his home.
If convicted, Medina could have spent up to a year in the county jail, or as much as four years in prison. He also would have been required to register as a sex offender.
