Cops: Massage therapist charged with sex abuse of Bayport spa customer

A licensed massage therapist is charged with sexually abusing a customer at a Bayport day spa earlier this month, police said, and authorities are urging other potential victims to come forward.

Matthew Widener, 33, of Farmingville, was arrested Tuesday and charged with third-degree sexual abuse, Suffolk County police said in a news release. He was arraigned Tuesday at First District Court in Central Islip. He was released on his own recognizance.

"We pleaded not guilty today and we plan on, obviously, fighting the charges," his Patchogue attorney John Halverson said.

Widener, who had been working at the Karasmatic Day Spa for about a year, was immediately fired after his employer learned of the allegations, said Vesselin Mitev, the spa's Miller Place attorney.

 "Obviously, such behavior would never be tolerated in that environment," Mitev said, adding that the spa is working with police. "There's never been any sort of complaints about the salon."

Widener is accused of inappropriately touching a 34-year-old woman on Aug. 12 while she was getting a massage, the release stated. 

Police are asking anyone else who may have been a victim to call the Fifth Squad at 631-854-8552.