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The Cuban Yasmina Ponce Rodríguez, accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old while giving him a massage at the Trump National Doral spa in Miami-Dade in 2025, pleaded guilty to a felony of battery, as reported this Tuesday by the Local 10 News.
Ponce, 56 years old and working as a masseuse at the luxurious resort located in Doral, was arrested on March 1st of last year for alleged inappropriate touching of a teenager during a massage session, according to the arrest report from the Police Department of that city. Initially, the woman faced a criminal charge for lewd and obscene contact with a minor.
The incident occurred that same day at the resort complex located at 4400 NW 87th Ave., where police officers arrived after receiving reports of a sexual assault involving a minor.
The officers spoke with the victim, who told them that she was a member of the resort's club and a frequent client of the spa, and had scheduled an appointment with Ponce for a massage, as she had done on previous occasions.
He explained that during the session that day, he was lying on his back, naked, with a sheet covering the lower part of his body, when, about 25 minutes after the massage began, Ponce moved the sheet, exposing his genitals, and then started inappropriately massaging his intimate areas.
According to the police report, the victim swatted the woman's hand away, and she stopped.
The massage session continued. The teenager told the detectives that he rarely communicated with Ponce due to the language barrier, but he said that at the end of the session, she asked him if he was "okay."
Upon leaving, the young man told his mother and girlfriend about the incident, and after discussing what had happened, they decided to report it to the police.
After being arrested in her apartment in southwest Miami-Dade, Ponce denied the allegations against her, stating that "such an act between her and the victim never occurred." Initially, she was held in TGK jail, from where she was released after posting a bond of $2,500.
In her first court appearance, the defendant claimed that she did not know the client was a minor and argued that "minors should not be given massages without family supervision."
On April 23, 2025, the Florida Department of Health suspended the professional license of the Cuban massage therapist.
The victim is being represented by Horowitz Law, a firm that has filed several lawsuits for sexual assault against massage therapists accused of inappropriately touching their clients.
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