A PERVERT who posed as a spa employee before massaging women and exposing himself, telling his victims "it's OK, I'm a professional", has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Zoheir Maleki, 33, previously pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault, and he was sentenced on Friday (sep 9) at Salisbury Magistrates Court.

Prosecuting, Fiona McMurray, told the court that Maleki, of Southampton, had "essentially portrayed himself as someone who was employed by the premises, and given complimentary massages".

Maleki was in the Aqua Sana spa at Center Parcs in Longleat in January when he approached his first victim, who was on a spa break with friends.

Ms McMurray said one of the victim's friends had pointed Maleki, who was standing at the entrance of one of the steam rooms, out, as they had seen him naked in the showers earlier.

When they went to enter the steam room, Maleki said: "Excuse me ladies, would you be interested in a complimentary ten minute massage? It's something we do here".

He had a Center Parcs towel around his waist, and another draped over his arm.

The victim, wearing only a swimming costume, followed him into the steam room, where he began to massage her arms and shoulders.

Ms McMurray said Maleki also "offered her an eye mask, which she declined to wear", but did close her eyes.

Maleki asked the woman to move the straps of her swimming costume to the side, before separating her legs to stand between them.

He pushed the body of her swimming costume down, exposing her chest, and then took her hand and put it on his hip, at which point she opened her eyes.

Ms McMurray said the victim said "Oh my god, you're naked" and that Maleki replied: "It's OK I'm a professional".

She left the steam room and reported the incident to staff at the spa straight away.

In a witness statement read to the court, the victim said she had asked herself: "Was this my fault? Had I led him on in some way, or made him think I would accept or encourage his behaviour?"

She said: "I feel that I was taken advantage of. It went from acceptable to totally unacceptable in moments.

"It's sad that people can make you lose trust with their actions."

Later that month, Maleki approached another woman who was visiting the resort for a friend's 40th birthday.

She saw a man standing outside one of the steam rooms, next to an official Center Parcs sign saying 'back in five minutes'.

Maleki was again wearing only a towel, and said: "Sorry ladies you can't come in here, we're offering short private massages in here today".

The woman entered the steam room with him, and he massaged her legs and then her neck, shoulders and back.

He then knelt down in front of her and started reaching around her to massage her lower back.

Ms McMurray said: "It was nothing like any massage she'd ever had."

The victim left the steam room and "immediately told her friends that she suspected this man wasn't an employee".

In her witness statement, the woman said she felt embarrassed and angry that she had "fallen for it".

She said: "I felt that I had been utterly mislead.

"I'm an intelligent woman and I feel cross with myself that this man was able to take advantage of me for his own benefit."

Maleki was stopped by Center Parcs staff, and he accepted involvement but did not agree that he had been trying to mislead the women into thinking he was a member of staff.

Ms McMurray said the police later discovered that Maleki regularly attended the spa, including four times in January 2016 alone.

Defending, Michael Stocken said: "This is a man who acted extremely stupidly.

"He has obviously committed offences that are going to follow him for the rest of his life.

"He's very ashamed of what he's done."

Mr Stocken said Maleki had turned to drugs and alcohol following the breakdown of his marriage, and that as a result "his sense of right and wrong has been distorted".

"He knows that he is going to have to rebuild his life, and that it's his own fault he's found himself here and that he needs to try to sort his life out," said Mr Stocken.

Bench chairman Colin Wyatt gave Maleki a sentence of 32 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, on the condition that he completed the sexual offenders treatment programme as well as six months of low intensity drug rehabilitation and 40 rehab activity requirement days.

Mr Wyatt also imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to last for five years, which states that Maleki must inform the police before visiting any spa facilities.

Maleki must pay £250 compensation to each of the victims, as well as £200 in court costs and a victim surcharge.

He said: "It may have ruined (the victims') weekends, but that is a small part of how it affected them emotionally.

"This prison sentence will hang over your head over the next two years."

After the hearing, a spokesman for Center Parcs said: “Throughout this case Center Parcs has fully cooperated with the police during their investigation.”