Woman sues Columbia massage business for alleged sexual assault

A Cooper County woman claims a massage business put her and others at risk when it hired a masseuse with a troubled history.

The woman claims Zeqiu Feng, an employee at Relax Station in Columbia Mall, touched her inappropriately during a massage in July 2016. The lawsuit claims the company should have known the state of Florida issued a cease-and-desist order against Feng a year prior for “practicing health care without a license.”

Prosecutors charged Feng with three counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse last November for the same conduct alleged in the lawsuit. Court records show Feng’s arrest warrant has not been served.

The lawsuit, written by attorney Jill Harper, claims Feng put his genitals on the victim while giving her a massage, touching her breasts and buttocks and forced her back down onto the massage table when she tried to leave.

The woman’s petition claims Relax Station should have known Feng could behave this way due to the cease-and-desist order issued in Florida. Both Feng and the business’ listed owner have the same address, which means Relax Station should have known about the license issue.

“It is reasonably foreseeable that individuals with a cease and desist order for practicing massage therapy without a license are not … properly trained in massage therapy,” the lawsuit said.

Jeffery Parshall, the listed attorney for Relax Station, did not return ABC 17 News’s call Tuesday afternoon.