KATY, Texas – A 20-year-old woman has come forward alleging she was also assaulted while getting a massage by the same man police arrested in Harris County.
Emily Gonzalez told Channel 2 News that in May 201, she went to the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office and filed a report against Travis Schuler after he touched her inappropriately during a massage at the Massage Envy on Spring Green in Katy.
Gonzalez worked the front desk at a Massage Envy, but at a different location, she made an appointment with Schuler because he came highly recommended.
"Many guests, clients and co-workers who had gone to see him all said he was a really good massage therapist," she said. As an employee Gonzalez was entitled to one free massage every month.
"It was during that massage that things went too far," she said. "It shocks you and you freeze. I didn't know what to say or do."
Gonzalez said she reported what happened to some of the women who worked at Massage Envy. Several days later she filed a report with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office.
"I knew if I didn't say anything it was probably going to happen again."
The Sheriff's Office confirmed to Channel 2 that the case was investigated but eventually closed because there wasn't enough evidence to charge Schuler.
Gonzalez said she and Schuler took polygraph tests; he passed and she did not.
"My results came back skewed and they thought I was lying," she said.
Gonzalez said she then received a notice to appear in court because investigators were charging her with making false statements to law enforcement.
"I felt like I was screaming to the authorities, screaming to everybody, 'This is what happened,' and no one wanted to listen," Gonzalez said. "That is hard."
"She didn't do anything wrong other than report what happened to her," said her father, Ernie Gonzalez.
This week Emily Gonzalez received word that the charge against her was being dropped, two days later police in Harris County arrested Schuler. He's accused of the same crime with a different victim.
Emily Gonzalez and her family saw the story on the news.
"I said, 'This is the same guy,'' said Ernie Gonzalez. "Travis Schuler, it's him."
Now the Gonzalez family is hoping the authorities in Fort Bend County will take another look at her case.
"I encourage them to do it," Emily Gonzalez said. "Get a fresh set of eyes to look at what happened."
Ernie Gonzalez is also wondering how Schuler got hired at another Massage Envy location after the allegations in Fort Bend County surfaced.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the company said, "We are investigating whether the therapist at issue should have been restricted in the system by the franchisee and therefore ineligible for employment at any Massage Envy Spa franchised location. If we determine that either or both franchisees violated our policies in that regard, they will face severe consequences, including possible termination of their franchise rights."