Mark Anthony Gray: Predator massage therapist filmed clients getting undressed, caught with child abuse material

The victims of a massage therapist who secretly filmed them while getting dressed in his practice have told of their despair and inability to trust others.

Mark Anthony Gray, 58, pleaded guilty on Friday to 30 counts of indecently filming at least 22 of his female clients, which occurred over a six-month period between June 2019 and January 2020.

None of the women were aware they were being filmed, nor did they consent to it as they undressed for their treatment, the court heard.

Of the 22 women victimised, only 15 have been identified.

The father-of-two also pleaded guilty to a string of child sex offences — including making a child amenable to sex and hosting a website dealing with child exploitation material — in the Adelaide District Court last year.

One of his victims, who asked to only be identified as Amanda, cried outside of court and told reporters she had developed a friendship with the massage therapist through her treatments and felt her trust had been betrayed.

“Every time I walk into a room I have to make sure there are no cameras,” she said.

“I am never going to go (to a massage therapist) again … You’re supposed to have some sort of trust but that will never happen again.

“(His sentence) is never going to be enough.”

Amanda said she found out she was a victim after receiving a text message telling her to contact SA Police, and when they spoke she said to the officer: “Please don‘t tell me it’s Mark”.

The woman in her 30s said she was aware that Gray had been charged through media reports but “didn’t expect it to be me at all”.

Another one of his victims, who wished to remain anonymous, said she worked as an allied health professional and felt like she couldn't trust her colleagues after the incident.

“If someone else is able to do this to someone then why not one of my friends that I’m working with?” the woman said.

“For all 22 of us that have been impacted by this, it is going to be life long.”

Their comments came shortly after the predator was sentenced in the District Court on Friday.

Judge Ian Press handed down a jail term of six years and four months with a non parole period of five years and 25 days, back dated to May 12 2020.

The court heard the man had saved the footage from the clinic onto his computer and referenced it by date and patient name.

In his sentencing remarks, the judge said Gray claimed his offending was triggered by “a need for intimacy”.

Judge Press also believed sexual gratification was another factor.

“It is not possible for me to describe the impact of your behaviour on each of the victims. These impacts are wide-ranging and profound for many of your victims,” he said.

“Your deceit and selfishness have clearly left a long lasting mark on those who were entitled to trust you.

“That you engaged in personal conversations with some of these women only accentuates the sense of violation they now feel.

“It is hardly surprising many of the victims speak of a loss of trust in not only health professionals but also in those around them.”

The judge said Gray’s desire to put his own needs ahead of others was premeditated and not “a lapse in judgement”.

Gray’s child sex-related offending came to light in 2018 after he spoke with an undercover police officer, whom he thought was a 14-year-old girl, through social media between October 26 and December 4.

Unaware of the officer’s real identity, the court heard the predator then began talking about kissing and showering together in November 2018.

During the time of the indecent filming, Gray also spoke with another undercover police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl between November 2019 and April 2020 and the conversation later involved sexualised topics in April 2020, asking about her underwear and for nude photographs.

The court heard the defendant invited the girl to a group chat, now thinking she was 15 years of age, in February 2020 and asked her “if she liked older men”.

Gray was an administrator of the group chat — with the ability to remove or add participants — where members posted and shared child exploitation material visible to all participants.

The court heard there was no evidence of the defendant posting the material, but he did actively engage in conversations about it and believed he had added a 15-year-old to participate in those conversations.

Judge Press said Gray’s actions demonstrated his willingness to corrupt children for his own devices and to obtain sexual gratification through child abuse material, despite the defendant’s claims that he never intended to meet with or engage in sexual acts with children.

The predator was also speaking to an adult woman online, sharing child abuse images and videos, and described the sexual acts he wished to perform on underage girls.

As a result of his arrest on May 12, 2020, police found a total of 364 child abuse material files saved on his iPhone, laptop, desktop computer and a hard drive.

“Exploiting children by possessing child exploitation material for sexual gratification is serious offending. Exploiting children by treating them as a commodity to be traded at will is considerably worse,” Judge Press said.

“You believe the emotional deprivation from your childhood is likely the reason you've spent much of your adulthood searching for love, affection, intimacy and validation.

“It is then said your online interactions increased in an attempt to fulfil your emotional needs.

“That you offended to fulfil an unmet sense of intimacy and to relieve loneliness and emotional deficits does not mitigate your offending.

“It appears no one and no age range was immune from your acts, provided you were sexually or emotionally gratified.

“The degree to which you were prepared to ignore the suffering of others and damage being done to them for your own benefit is difficult to grasp.”

The court heard the defendant’s wife, children and mother no longer wish to maintain a relationship with him.

The judge also said Gray had been threatened while in jail and is in “constant fear for (his) safety”.

Citing a psychological report, the judge said the defendant was at a low risk of sexual reoffending as long as he continued ongoing psychological treatment while in custody and a risk management plan was developed prior to his release on parole.

Gray is eligible to be released from jail in 2024.