On September 20, 2019, the GPD announced the arrest of a massage therapist for inappropriately touching female customers on three separate occasions at Trade Street Massage located at 210 W. Stone Avenue in Greenville. Those visits occurred between December 2018 and June of 2019.

Since that announcement and the subsequent media coverage, five additional women have come forward to report that 70-year-old Anthony “Tony” Joseph Ruggiero provided services that involved inappropriate contact on them, too.

The victims told investigators they purchased a discounted massage from a popular online discount site. Each woman described various types of inappropriate contact by Ruggiero during their massage session.

Their visits occurred between 2011 and June 2019.

On October 15th, GPD detectives arrested Ruggiero and charged him with five new counts of Assault and Battery, 2nd Degree. Last month, he was originally charged with three counts of Assault and Battery, 2nd Degree.

At this time, Ruggiero remains in the Greenville County Detention Center on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond ($5,000 per charge).

GPD investigators have notified the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (SCLLR) as well as the City of Greenville Revenue and Business License Division of these charges.