Did you know some registered sex offenders can become licensed massage therapists in Illinois? We didn’t either, until a recent arrest in Lincoln Park sent us digging. And what we found is one of those “wait, how is this even possible?” stories that state lawmakers apparently don’t want to talk about.
It all started late last month when prosecutors charged 40-year-old Nicholas Brown, a licensed massage therapist at Equinox Lincoln Common in Lincoln Park, with sexually abusing a male client during a massage.
Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Pekara told Judge Luciano Panici, Jr., that Brown encouraged the client to get naked, then launched into a bizarre monologue about his “sexual preferences,” saying he was divorced, polyamorous, went to sex clubs, and “would get aroused while taking ‘shrooms.” Pekara said Brown then escalated to unwanted touching, starting with “tickling the victim’s upper thigh and buttocks” and continuing from there.
Pekara told the judge that Brown was convicted of criminal sexual assault in Wisconsin at age 15. Even though the case was later expunged, Pekara said, “The state police made clear to the defendant that although it was expunged, it wasn’t vacated or set aside, so he does still have to register as a sex offender.”
Panici granted the state’s detention petition, citing Brown’s status as a registered sex offender as one of the reasons for his decision. Brown has been in the Cook County jail ever since.
That’s disturbing enough. But when we looked into Brown’s background, we found something more.
Not only did Brown receive his state massage therapist license in January 2015 while being a sex offender, but he was even convicted in Cook County of failing to register after getting the license. Years later, state regulators reprimanded him for not disclosing the Wisconsin case when he applied for his therapist’s license. But Brown remained licensed, ultimately landing at Equinox last year.
It turns out that Illinois law says state regulators “cannot normally consider juvenile offenses or expunged convictions when making licensure determinations,” according to a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
And that’s how someone who had to register as a sex offender ended up licensed to touch people for a living.
But there’s more.
While Pekara told the court during Brown’s detention hearing that Brown still had to register, we have secured a 2019 letter from the Illinois State Police to Brown that said, because he had the juvenile matter expunged in 2018, he no longer had to register. When we pressed the State’s Attorney’s Office about whether Brown is actually required to register, they directed us to ISP. When we asked ISP, they wouldn’t answer because it’s a juvenile case.
On September 2, a couple of days after Brown was detained, IDFPR slapped a chaperone requirement on Brown’s license, meaning he couldn’t see clients unless someone else was in the room. Then, a week later, IDFPR suspended his license altogether, saying Brown failed to comply with the chaperone order—even though Brown has been in jail since the end of August.
This raises another concern: employment law. If a licensed massage therapist who is also a registered sex offender applies for a massage job, an employer who flat-out rejects them for their criminal record could be breaking state law.
“If the state gave him a license, who am I to say his background is disqualifying?” said the manager of a Lakeview health club not connected to Brown’s case. Instead, the manager said, they’d come up with “another excuse” not to hire a sex offender as an applicant.
So we asked lawmakers—the ones who represent Lincoln Park and some who’ve been leading the state’s criminal justice “reform” movement—if they think the law should change so sex offenders can’t become massage therapists. We also wondered if they thought employers should be able to deny a sensitive job like massage therapist based on an applicant’s status as a sex offender.
Sen. Sara Feigenholtz and Rep. Margaret Croke represent the neighborhood around the Lincoln Park Equinox location. We told them about this case and asked for their thoughts. They did not respond.
We also asked former Chicago mayoral candidate Rep. Kam Buckner and Sen. Robert Peters, one of the champions of the state’s criminal justice “reform” efforts, for their thoughts. They did not respond, either.
So, here’s where Illinois stands right now: A sex offender who committed the sex crime as a juvenile can get a massage therapist license. Employers can’t legally reject them just because they’re a sex offender. And lawmakers are silent about whether any of that should change.
Here are the responses we received from various parties as we prepared this story:
Equinox
The safety and wellbeing of our members is always our highest priority. The individual’s employment was promptly terminated once the incident was brought to our attention. Our job candidates undergo an extensive background check performed by an independent third party. During this process it was learned that this individual had a juvenile offense 26 years earlier in 1998 when he was 12 years old, for which he failed to register when he turned 18. He had this expunged from his record in 2018, six years prior to him applying for a position with the company. At the time that he was hired in 2024, he was licensed as a massage therapist by the state of Illinois. We will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement as their investigation continues.
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
IDFPR takes seriously all allegations of sexual abuse by the professionals it regulates and is committed to using its authority to keep patients safe. Applicants for a Massage Therapist license in Illinois must submit to a fingerprint-based background check. When Mr. Brown (aka Rouge) applied for his license, the background check did not disclose – and he did not self-report – any offenses that precluded licensure. Having met the required licensure conditions (e.g., education) and lacking any known disqualifying information, he was granted a license in 2015.
After Mr. Brown was convicted of failing to register on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, IDFPR received notice of the conviction. That notification caused IDFPR to initiate the enforcement proceedings against Mr. Brown that ultimately resulted in the reprimand you cited. Prior to the reprimand, Mr. Brown voluntarily placed his license on inactive status (meaning he could not see clients) while he sought expungement of this juvenile adjudication in Wisconsin. Please note that, per Public Act 100-286, IDFPR cannot normally consider juvenile offenses or expunged convictions when making licensure determinations (20 ILCS 2105/2105-135(c)).
For your awareness, IDFPR recently imposed a Chaperone Order on Mr. Brown that limits his ability to practice pending potential further disciplinary action by IDFPR. In 2024, IDFPR supported legislation that requires State’s Attorneys to report to IDFPR when a massage therapist is charged with a sex offense. IDFPR is empowered—without a hearing—to order the person to practice only with a chaperone present during all patient encounters (among other conditions). Consistent with that law (225 ILCS 57/45(c-5) of the Massage Therapy Licensing Act), an Assistant State’s Attorney notified IDFPR of Mr. Brown’s new case on August 31. On September 2, IDFPR entered the Chaperone Order against Mr. Brown.
Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office
In all cases, the CCSAO relies on law enforcement records and information in the prosecution of cases. At detention hearings, prosecutors present relevant information to the court, which has the sole authority to make detention decisions. Based on information provided by the Illinois State Police at the time of this defendant’s detention hearing, the defendant had a duty to register as a sex offender. For any specific information regarding the defendant’s registration status, please contact ISP directly.
Illinois State Police
ISP is unable to discuss information for specific individuals. Information on who is required to register is in the Sex Offender Registration Act and adult offenders can be found on the Illinois State Police Sex Offender Registry. Please note, individuals who were juveniles when the offense occurred will not be listed on the public facing website. The individual may still be required to register, but because they were a juvenile, ISP is unable to publicly confirm if the individual has registered. ISP provides criminal history information to IDFPR for Massage Therapist license applicants for whom fingerprints are submitted.
Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender
The Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender is unable to comment on this specific case at this time. We look forward to reviewing the prosecution’s evidence in this case and presenting a vigorous defense of our client in court. We would remind the public that people accused of a crime are innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
This story is made possible by contributions to the Cook County Courtroom Transparency Fund.
