Former Houston massage therapist faces trial on allegations he planned sex trafficking of...

[massage]

A federal jury trial is expected to begin this week for a Houston man accused of sex trafficking four young men he hired to provide sexual massages for customers and attempting to sell the sexual services of one of them, a 15-year-old boy, during the 2012 London Olympics.


Jason Daniel Gandy, 41, a licensed massage therapist at the time of his arrest, faces a possible life sentence for a range of crimes including sex trafficking, sexual exploitation and transportation of minors, making sexually explicit images and transporting child pornography. Gandy has been in federal custody for six years while awaiting trial.


Jury selection in the case is set to begin Wednesday before Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, and lawyers anticipate the case will be completed by early next week.


The charges were filed after immigration officials in London stopped Gandy on July 19, 2012 traveling with an unrelated teenager on a flight from Houston. The pair were sent back to Houston on separate flights and questioned by Homeland Security officials. Officials also found lewd photographs on Gandy’s computer which they say show the young man’s genitals. A defense lawyer said the photographs do not show the face of the individual.


Gandy ran a massage business out of his home, providing massages to male clientele. Federal prosecutors intend to present evidence that the unnamed 15-year-old on the trip provided massages and customers were allowed to fondle him. They say that during massages, the teen was compelled to sexually gratify customers, according to court evidence.


Federal investigators later identified three other young men, who were 15, 16 and 17 when they participated in Gandy’s business between 2005 and 2007. The men said they were subjected to a similar work environment in which Gandy required them to perform sex acts for customers, according to court documents.


Gandy contends he ran a legitimate business and that the four young men who worked for him providing private massages were never forced or coerced to participate in any sexual conduct with clients. The defense plans to dispute that any sex acts occurred. If they did happen, the defense team says it was not at Gandy’s direction.


"The prosecution claims Mr. Gandy sexually exploited young men for profit," said Gandy’s attorney Sean Buckley. "That never happened."


“This is a case about the effects of money, power and jealousy among a group of men who once turned to Mr. Gandy for consensual companionship and financial resources,” he said. “And this is also a sobering story of overreach by federal prosecutors looking for victims who don’t exist."


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