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RICHMOND, Ind. (WISH) — The Indiana Department of Workforce Development is ordering a Richmond massage therapy school to stop operating, for now, after the department realized the school did not have proper authorization, according to a cease-and-desist letter obtained by News 8.
Students at the newly opened school say they were forced to massage the public for free, put in physically dangerous situations, and lost thousands of dollars.
“That Massage School” opened its doors Nov. 1 in downtown Richmond at 224 S. Fifth St. The school claimed the new location would be its fifth school in the state.
Its website crossed off every item on prospective students’ list. Students say the site claimed the school was accredited; promised lessons from licensed teachers, and hands-on training with clients; and guaranteed the students would be licensed massage therapists by the end of their coursework.
Several students spent thousands of dollars enrolling and purchasing supplies. Four of them shared their experience with I-Team 8.
Deb Kirkman, a science teacher in Wayne County, was looking forward to getting her license and beginning a new chapter in her life. Kirkman is a licensed equine massage therapist. Following her coursework at That Massage School, she would have been one of few in the region with both licenses.
“This was going to be my retirement,” Kirkman said.
Andrea Maples works at an insurance company in the area. She had long dreamed of getting her massage therapy license.
“It was going to be for my future,” Maples said.
Brenda Cummings is a traditional Native American artist. She planned to use her license working inside the spas at Four Winds Casino, owned by her tribe.
A fourth student chose to remain anonymous out of fear for her safety.
Though the school said the Richmond location was their fifth location, their website lists at least 10 schools in operation across the state. However, the number of locations listed on the website has changed several times over the course of the past several weeks.
Many of the locations on the website have no address listed, and the state’s Better Business Bureau does not have any record of the school under the same name. The BBB does have a record of one location in Goshen under the name “That Massage Place.” That business is not BBB-accredited.
The Goshen location is filed with the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office. It was filed in 2017.
“They showed up as a business on the Indiana.gov website,” Maples said when asked about what prompted her to enroll.
In an email response to News 8, the school said their Anderson location is accreditation and admits their Richmond location is not.
“Our Richmond location was originally classified as an externship site,” the school, operated by Joshua Ridenour, said in a statement. “However, our Anderson school is an accredited/authorized school.”
The school claims understaffing at the Department of Workforce Development has kept their accreditation application from being processed.
The department confirmed to News 8 they issued a cease-and-desist letter to the school on Feb. 5.
“It has come to our attention that That Massage School is operating at the Richmond location without the required authorization from the Office for Career and Technical Schools,” the letter, provided to News 8 by the students, said. “To reiterate, That Massage School (Richmond) is not authorized to offer to the public training, and/or educational services for a fee, charge, or tuition.”
The private Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation also does not list the school as having accreditation.
Students say the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) also confirmed the school is not accredited. The organization has since revoked the school’s membership.
AMTA declined to comment on this story, but said a student must attend an accredited school to receive their license.
I-Team 8 verified with the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency that Ridenour is not a licensed therapist. Students say he claimed he was licensed when the business opened.
Ridenour admitted to I-Team 8 he does not have his license and said he never claimed to be licensed.
Ridenour was previously in trouble with the massage therapy world. The Lake Superior Court confirmed Ridenour was sued in a small claims court by the American Certified Massage School in 2012 for not paying fees.
Each of the students began their course work at That Massage School at varying points after its opening.
The students purchased a course workbook. They say Ridenour admitted to them the book was generated by artificial intelligence.
They attended their first day of class at the school and each one of them said they received thirty minutes to an hour of training before they were told to begin treating clients.
“She gave me 30 minutes of instruction and then said, ‘OK, go work on these people,’” Kirkman said. “She said, ‘You’ll know what to do.’”
“Within an hour, we were massaging the public for free,” Maples said.
The students said they were never taught how to properly perform a massage, including for clients with preexisting health conditions.
“One of the particular methods could cause someone to crush the carotid artery or the aorta,” Kirkman said.
The students say there was no teacher in the room to supervise appointments with clients, despite it being required for training to get a license.
The students say the lack of guidance exposed them to potentially dangerous situations with clients.
“He wanted to see pictures of all of the girls, so that he could make his appointment based on the pictures,” Cummings said of one client scheduling a massage appointment with one of her fellow students. “During the massage, he was being aggressive, grabbing at her, grabbing at her legs.”
The student, who wished to remain anonymous, says she escaped the room and got away from the client, but narrowly. She said Ridenour refused to report the incident to police and told her it would be the client’s word against hers.
She said the client was not flagged in their system and they received no training on how to handle similar situations.
“You don’t do that,” Kirkman said. “You cannot do that. You cannot give back to her what was taken.”
The women say they continued to make shocking discoveries.
“When I would go in in the mornings, they would just be getting up off of the massage table,” Cummings said about Ridenour and the other staff at the school.
Cummings said Ridenour admitted to the students that staff was living inside the school.
“They are definitely sleeping there,” Cummings said.
The students then band together and brought their concerns to the Department of Workforce Development.
“They said you need to stop what you are doing,” Maples said about what the department told her. “Don’t go back in there, because you are an unpaid worker.”
Following reports from the students, the department issued the cease-and-desist letter.
After the letter was delivered, I-Team 8 went to the school to ask if they were still operating. The school did not answer the door.
Ridenour sent an email to students in response to the letter.
“While we cannot go into details at this time due to legal guidance, we encourage you to think critically,” the email said. If you invested your life into something you love and sacrificed greatly for, would you risk it all for a shortcut? If you consulted an attorney, would you trust their advice and act accordingly? Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do? Has the government ever accused someone and was accidentally wrong? We stand by the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’”
The students say other organizations also missed red flags.
“The Wayne County Chamber of Commerce did a ribbon-cutting ceremony welcoming the school to our town,” Maples said.
The photos from the ribbon-cutting have since been wiped from the chamber’s social media page.
“While we have more than 500 Chamber members, our organization does not investigate businesses,” the chamber said in a statement. “The DWD (Department of Workforce Development) and Better Business Bureau are the ones we refer to for any inquiries. We will defer to them for any necessary action.”
Around the time of the school’s opening, the local newspaper, the Palladium Item, interviewed Ridenour.
“The local newspaper, the Palladium Item, also did their big spread welcoming ‘That Massage School’ here and in that article it also mentioned that they were accredited,” Maples said.
The mayor of Richmond, Ron Oler, also shared a statement.
“Beyond what has been reported publicly, we do not have any additional details,” Oler said. “Our hearts go out to the students affected by this situation. Please understand that while we wish we could offer more immediate clarity, matters of accreditation and licensure fall under state jurisdiction, not that of the city.”
Each one of the women say they’ve lost time that will never get back due to Ridenour’s misleading.
But, it’s not just their time they’ve lost.
“I have not only been robbed of my time and my money, but my dream, and that’s priceless,” Kirkman said.
Though they cannot get their time back, some say they do plan to move forward with getting their massage therapy licenses.
That Massage School’s statement included the name of a Fort Wayne clinic manager. I-Team 8 reached out to the manager, but did not hear back.
That Massage School Richmond (Provided Photo/Posted by That Massage School Google Review Page)
That Massage School Richmond (Provided Photo/Posted by That Massage School Google Review Page)
That Massage School Richmond (Provided Photo/Posted by That Massage School Google Review Page
That Massage School Richmond (Provided Photo/Posted by That Massage School Google Review Page)
Students at the newly opened school say they were forced to massage the public for free, put in physically dangerous situations, and lost thousands of dollars.
“That Massage School” opened its doors Nov. 1 in downtown Richmond at 224 S. Fifth St. The school claimed the new location would be its fifth school in the state.
Its website crossed off every item on prospective students’ list. Students say the site claimed the school was accredited; promised lessons from licensed teachers, and hands-on training with clients; and guaranteed the students would be licensed massage therapists by the end of their coursework.
Several students spent thousands of dollars enrolling and purchasing supplies. Four of them shared their experience with I-Team 8.
Deb Kirkman, a science teacher in Wayne County, was looking forward to getting her license and beginning a new chapter in her life. Kirkman is a licensed equine massage therapist. Following her coursework at That Massage School, she would have been one of few in the region with both licenses.
“This was going to be my retirement,” Kirkman said.
Andrea Maples works at an insurance company in the area. She had long dreamed of getting her massage therapy license.
“It was going to be for my future,” Maples said.
Brenda Cummings is a traditional Native American artist. She planned to use her license working inside the spas at Four Winds Casino, owned by her tribe.
A fourth student chose to remain anonymous out of fear for her safety.
Cease-and-desist issued
Though the school said the Richmond location was their fifth location, their website lists at least 10 schools in operation across the state. However, the number of locations listed on the website has changed several times over the course of the past several weeks.
Many of the locations on the website have no address listed, and the state’s Better Business Bureau does not have any record of the school under the same name. The BBB does have a record of one location in Goshen under the name “That Massage Place.” That business is not BBB-accredited.
The Goshen location is filed with the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office. It was filed in 2017.
“They showed up as a business on the Indiana.gov website,” Maples said when asked about what prompted her to enroll.
In an email response to News 8, the school said their Anderson location is accreditation and admits their Richmond location is not.
“Our Richmond location was originally classified as an externship site,” the school, operated by Joshua Ridenour, said in a statement. “However, our Anderson school is an accredited/authorized school.”
- The full statement from the school is included at the end of this article.
The school claims understaffing at the Department of Workforce Development has kept their accreditation application from being processed.
The department confirmed to News 8 they issued a cease-and-desist letter to the school on Feb. 5.
“It has come to our attention that That Massage School is operating at the Richmond location without the required authorization from the Office for Career and Technical Schools,” the letter, provided to News 8 by the students, said. “To reiterate, That Massage School (Richmond) is not authorized to offer to the public training, and/or educational services for a fee, charge, or tuition.”
The private Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation also does not list the school as having accreditation.
Students say the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) also confirmed the school is not accredited. The organization has since revoked the school’s membership.
AMTA declined to comment on this story, but said a student must attend an accredited school to receive their license.
I-Team 8 verified with the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency that Ridenour is not a licensed therapist. Students say he claimed he was licensed when the business opened.
Ridenour admitted to I-Team 8 he does not have his license and said he never claimed to be licensed.
Ridenour was previously in trouble with the massage therapy world. The Lake Superior Court confirmed Ridenour was sued in a small claims court by the American Certified Massage School in 2012 for not paying fees.
‘Within an hour, we were massaging the public for free’
Each of the students began their course work at That Massage School at varying points after its opening.
The students purchased a course workbook. They say Ridenour admitted to them the book was generated by artificial intelligence.
They attended their first day of class at the school and each one of them said they received thirty minutes to an hour of training before they were told to begin treating clients.
“She gave me 30 minutes of instruction and then said, ‘OK, go work on these people,’” Kirkman said. “She said, ‘You’ll know what to do.’”
“Within an hour, we were massaging the public for free,” Maples said.
The students said they were never taught how to properly perform a massage, including for clients with preexisting health conditions.
“One of the particular methods could cause someone to crush the carotid artery or the aorta,” Kirkman said.
The students say there was no teacher in the room to supervise appointments with clients, despite it being required for training to get a license.
Lack of supervision leads to dangerous situation, student says
The students say the lack of guidance exposed them to potentially dangerous situations with clients.
“He wanted to see pictures of all of the girls, so that he could make his appointment based on the pictures,” Cummings said of one client scheduling a massage appointment with one of her fellow students. “During the massage, he was being aggressive, grabbing at her, grabbing at her legs.”
The student, who wished to remain anonymous, says she escaped the room and got away from the client, but narrowly. She said Ridenour refused to report the incident to police and told her it would be the client’s word against hers.
She said the client was not flagged in their system and they received no training on how to handle similar situations.
“You don’t do that,” Kirkman said. “You cannot do that. You cannot give back to her what was taken.”
Additional discoveries
The women say they continued to make shocking discoveries.
“When I would go in in the mornings, they would just be getting up off of the massage table,” Cummings said about Ridenour and the other staff at the school.
Cummings said Ridenour admitted to the students that staff was living inside the school.
“They are definitely sleeping there,” Cummings said.
The students then band together and brought their concerns to the Department of Workforce Development.
“They said you need to stop what you are doing,” Maples said about what the department told her. “Don’t go back in there, because you are an unpaid worker.”
Following reports from the students, the department issued the cease-and-desist letter.
After the letter was delivered, I-Team 8 went to the school to ask if they were still operating. The school did not answer the door.
Ridenour sent an email to students in response to the letter.
“While we cannot go into details at this time due to legal guidance, we encourage you to think critically,” the email said. If you invested your life into something you love and sacrificed greatly for, would you risk it all for a shortcut? If you consulted an attorney, would you trust their advice and act accordingly? Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do? Has the government ever accused someone and was accidentally wrong? We stand by the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’”
Red flags missed
The students say other organizations also missed red flags.
“The Wayne County Chamber of Commerce did a ribbon-cutting ceremony welcoming the school to our town,” Maples said.
The photos from the ribbon-cutting have since been wiped from the chamber’s social media page.
“While we have more than 500 Chamber members, our organization does not investigate businesses,” the chamber said in a statement. “The DWD (Department of Workforce Development) and Better Business Bureau are the ones we refer to for any inquiries. We will defer to them for any necessary action.”
Around the time of the school’s opening, the local newspaper, the Palladium Item, interviewed Ridenour.
“The local newspaper, the Palladium Item, also did their big spread welcoming ‘That Massage School’ here and in that article it also mentioned that they were accredited,” Maples said.
The mayor of Richmond, Ron Oler, also shared a statement.
“Beyond what has been reported publicly, we do not have any additional details,” Oler said. “Our hearts go out to the students affected by this situation. Please understand that while we wish we could offer more immediate clarity, matters of accreditation and licensure fall under state jurisdiction, not that of the city.”
Moving forward
Each one of the women say they’ve lost time that will never get back due to Ridenour’s misleading.
But, it’s not just their time they’ve lost.
“I have not only been robbed of my time and my money, but my dream, and that’s priceless,” Kirkman said.
Though they cannot get their time back, some say they do plan to move forward with getting their massage therapy licenses.
Statement from That Massage School
That Massage School’s statement included the name of a Fort Wayne clinic manager. I-Team 8 reached out to the manager, but did not hear back.
That Massage School Richmond (Provided Photo/Posted by That Massage School Google Review Page)
That Massage School Richmond (Provided Photo/Posted by That Massage School Google Review Page)
That Massage School Richmond (Provided Photo/Posted by That Massage School Google Review Page
That Massage School Richmond (Provided Photo/Posted by That Massage School Google Review Page)
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