Naked pics of massage clients lead to criminal charges

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - A former licensed massage therapist faces some disturbing allegations: clients say he secretly shot pictures and video of their naked bodies.

Jonathan Bautista has already pled guilty in one case and was sentenced to four years in a work-release program. He's allowed to leave the Gwinnett County Diversion Center each day to go to work.

But it's the work he says he wants to do -- and the company he's set up since his arrest -- that has a former client truly concerned.

"I think everybody that knew him was blindsided by this," explained Elizabeth Licon. "I know I definitely was."

That's because Elizabeth and Jonathan were friends, classmates in a school where she became a personal trainer and he a licensed massage therapist.

Bautista even gave her a massage in her Gwinnett County home after Elizabeth was injured in a car accident.

Then, one day in 2017, state investigators knocked on the door.

"They were like, what we're about to show you is disturbing and we need you to identify if this is you," she remembered. "They flip the laptop around and it was everything down below. From the massage. Essentially, when I was lying face down he had his phone up under the sheet and he was videoing everything."

She says she's being treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"I always trusted him," Elizabeth said. "I didn't ever... it would never cross my mind to think oh, I should have pants on right now."

In April, Bautista pled guilty to two counts of invasion of privacy. He's required to serve four years in Gwinnett's work-release program and another 10 years on probation. But that may not be his only punishment, because authorities say Elizabeth Licon was not his only victim.

According to a Georgia Secretary of State summary suspension of Bautista's massage therapy license, he "intentionally manipulated and/or repositioned" the bodies of four additional women and "surreptitiously and without their consent, photographed and/or videotaped their exposed buttocks and/or genitals."

Those four felony cases are pending in Fulton County. Bautista worked at a Midtown Atlanta fitness center where the four incidents allegedly took place.

The Secretary of State order says Bautista "posted these photographs and/or videos on his personal and/or business email account." The state suspended his license. It has since expired.

Around the same time he started serving his sentence in Gwinnett County, Bautista revealed his new company: ReWild Atl. His website promises to take people into the woods to experience nature at its finest.

Bautista even posted a video blog on the website where he calls himself Jonah of the Forest.

"Rewild is a company that basically takes people out of the cities and moves them out into the forest for fun, fitness, activities," he said.

One of the services is letting busy parents leave their kids. Here's what the website says about that:

"If you have to drop your child off, we completely understand. We will take great care of them, and teach them all the skills."

That line troubled Elizabeth.

"That's disturbing to me," she said. "As a parent, I wouldn't want my kid to go with him!"

We talked with Bautista as he was heading to work. Our first question: is he actually taking children into the woods?

"No sir," he answered. "I haven't taken anybody out into the woods."

He insisted his company hasn't had any clients yet. We asked considering his past, should he really be the guy parents trust with their kids?

"I'm not the guy," Bautista said. "I have other people who do training and stuff for me. I made a mistake and I really, it's extremely embarrassing."

But five mistakes?

"It was very situational," he answered. "Please, this is very embarrassing."

I pointed out these women say HE embarrassed THEM. "You didn't have permission to take pictures of their naked bodies. And one of them says she's suffering from PTSD because of it."

"I'm not going to get into any details of any situation," Bautista said. "There's a lot more going on."

It's been nearly two years since Bautista was charged with those four cases in Fulton. He's not been indicted, but the Fulton County District Attorney's office says it does plan to prosecute.