A self-proclaimed Tibetan healer in San Diego County convicted of sexually assaulted a client while giving her a massage was sentenced to state prison.
Vasiliy "Ardi" Galashev, 62, was sentenced by Judge Carlos Armour to four years in state prison for sexually assaulting a woman who hired him for massage services.
The incident first came to light in May 2015, when the alleged victim came to the Escondido Police Department’s Family Protection Unit, saying she had been raped by 61-year-old Vasiliy "Ardi" Galashev.
Galashev, a registered sex offender in California, calls himself "Master Ardi" and claims he is a 7th generation Tibetan healer, according to Escondido Police detectives. He massages clients as a form of treatment.
During one of those massages, the alleged victim said she was raped. When she went to police, investigators collected DNA evidence from her and sent it to the sheriff’s crime lab for analysis.
Two months later, detectives interviewed Galashev and collected DNA from him to compare to the evidence found on the woman.
The crime lab confirmed the two samples were an exact match in November 2015, Escondido police said.
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Galashev pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the victim.
