How a group of women helped bring a traveling massage therapist to justice

Anchorage resident Judy Jessen has been advocating for both sexual assault victims and the issues surrounding sexual assault since 2016. Jessen, a rape survivor herself, says she was messaged on Facebook last summer by Jason Karpinski who claimed to be a licensed massage therapist in the state of Alaska and who sent her an unsolicited message asking Jessen to book a massage with him.

Jessen said she felt somewhat uncomfortable having been directly solicited by Karpinski at the time and asked a group of women if anyone had heard of him. Many women, according to Jessen, had indeed heard of him and told Jessen they too had received unsolicited messages from Karpinski who sought women to schedule appointments with him.

Karpinski’s professional Massage Therapist business license was issued by the State of Alaska on 07-21-2016 and expired on 09-30-2019, a fact which didn’t escape Jessen, who had searched the state’s professional licensing database looking for more information on Karpinski in 2020 after he attempted to solicit business from her last year.

Jessen began talking and working with other women who told her that they, too, had been solicited by Karpinski in Facebook messages and began filing formal complaints with the State of Alaska’s professional licensing division — in an attempt to make the division aware that Karpinski had been soliciting business as a licensed massage therapist when, in fact, he held no professional license after September 30, 2019, according to the Alaska Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing.

Separately, on September 15, 2020, the Anchorage Police Department was notified of a sexual assault allegedly perpetrated by Karpinski. Special Victims Unit (SVU) detectives launched an investigation at the time.

Alleged ViolationsWhile SVU was conducting its investigation into its initial sexual assault allegations related to Karpinski, the State of Alaska began looking into allegations Karpinski had solicited and conducted business without a professional business license. The complaints were brought to the state by women who said they had received such Facebook messages from Karpinski.

On October 22, 2020, the State of Alaska Business and Professional Licensing Board of Massage Therapists sent a “Temporary Cease and Desist Order” to Karpinski writing that they had determined he had represented himself and had been practicing as a Massage Therapist in the State of Alaska without being professionally licensed in the State of Alaska.

“This work included providing massage therapy services for a fee to a client on two occasions as documented. You also advertised for a massage therapy business on a fee basis through social media websites while unlicensed. These actions constitute violations of AS 08.61.060(3), and AS 08.61.070(a) and (b),” the letter stated.

A day later, on October 23, 2020, the Alaska Board of Massage Therapists issued a “Board Ordered Summary Suspension” to Karpinski, writing that “upon evidence presented by the Division, the Alaska State Board of Massage Therapists (“Board”) finds that Jason Allan Karpinski poses a clear and immediate danger to the public health and safety if he continues to practice as a Massage Therapist,” and further noted in their letter that Karpinski’s license to practice as a Massage Therapist in Alaska would remain suspended, “until such a time he can demonstrate to the Board that he is fit to practice in a manner consistent with public safety.”

That time would not come for Karpinski.

On January 28, 2021, the Board of Massage Therapists again wrote to Karpinski that it had adopted his Surrender of License, presented to the Board by members of the staff from the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing for Karpinski.

In the letter, the Board advised Karpinski that he had been “under official investiga- tion by the Alaska Board” and that subse- quent disciplinary action was now “reportable to the National Practitioner Data Bank and other entities as required by law.”

But even after Karpinski agreed to voluntarily surrender his Alaska Massage Therapist license, which lapsed on September 30, 2019, some women alleged Karpinski persisted in his efforts to solicit business from more women in February and March of 2021.

Copies of two Facebook Messenger screenshots dated February 2021 seem to substantiate the allegations. The screenshots are pictured and used here with the individual’s consent.

Six months after SVU began its investigation into Karpinski, an arrest warrant was obtained for him on March 16, 2021 for four counts of Sexual Assault II. The warrant was served on March 18, 2021 according to the Anchorage Police Department.

The WomenAccording to Jessen, she and other women began filing complaints related to Karpinski’s lack of professional licensing with the State of Alaska in August of 2020. Jessen tells me that other women also filed complaints with the State of Alaska but doesn’t know exactly how exactly. She estimates at least ten other women did so.

Jessen said she wants to both honor and raise awareness that Karpinski’s arrest was likely the result of many women who had agreed to share their names, personal contact information and vulnerable experiences with the State of Alaska in the form of official complaints.

Jessen, who has both corresponded with and spoken to women she says Karpinski messaged in the past — believes Karpinski had been harassing women for years attempt- ing to solicit their business for his services as she says he did to her. The women, Jessen says, had become “fed up” with Karpinski’s social media messaging and began filing reports about them.

“We waited a long time, but so many of us came forward and opened up that they were able to take stronger action against his license. Additionally, the licensing investigation is what we believe uncovered many of the charges Karpinski is now facing,” Jessen says, noting that she has spoken with Detective Kevin Palmatier, and “had a really good experience.” She says Det. Palmatier “was understanding, empathetic, supportive, and made a commitment that he would follow up on every complaint.”

Jessen wants the public to know that experiencing sexual impropriety is deeply painful, as is the reporting of it, and is willing to help women file their own complaints and stay on the line with them while they’re talking to the detective or help provide whatever support they might need from her.

“Living with these experiences requires a lot of strength, and we hold space for folks who have had these experienc- es and can’t or won’t report,” Jessen says.

She also wants women to know that if anyone needs or wants professional support, STAR Alaska has a free and confidential hotline that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Just call 907-276-7273 for support. All STAR services for survivors are provided free of charge.