Massage therapist Brad McLellan forced to move because of sex assault allegations

Massage therapistBrad McLellan says he must move away from Alberta because he can't find work following the publicity that has surrounded allegations he sexually assaulted eight patients, including two sisters.

This week, McLellan's bail conditions were amended in order to allow him to move.

"These false allegations have ended my massage therapy career that I worked so hard to build over the last 10 years and have been devastating to my future local employment opportunities," McLellan wrote in a statement.

"I am having to look for other employment opportunities outside of the province."

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McLellan faces eight charges of sexual assault stemming from his alleged actions during massage appointments.

According to a court document, the sisters' alleged incidents took place three weeks apart in September and October 2015.

A publication ban protects the identity of sexual assault complainants and victims.

"I want to emphatically state my complete innocence in regards to these false allegations," said McLellan.

Four new charges of sexual assault were laid last month and in January, three women came forward to police.

The new allegations all came in after police released McLellan's name and details of theoriginal complaintin December.

We want to have our chance to prove my innocence'

McLellan's previous bail conditions required him to remain in Alberta.Under his new conditions, he can move but must report to a probation officer in the town closest to where he moves within one week.

He is also required to hand over his passport and remain in Canada.

McLellan is not allowed to work in health care or a clinical or therapeutic setting and cannot perform massage services or work alone with women where physical contact is required.

After his arrest in December, investigators said McLellan may have worked professionally withHockey Canada andthe Vancouver 2010ParalympicGames in the past, potentially treatingskeleton andbobsledathletes.

Defence lawyer, Cory Wilson says apreliminary inquiry will be booked for Nov.21.

"We want to have our chance to prove my innocence as soon as possible so we can try to start rebuilding our lives."

Read McLellan'sfull statement below:

"Once more, I want to emphatically state my complete innocence in regards to these false allegations. I have always explained my rehabilitative treatment plans and obtained consent from my patients during all of my approximately 14,000 rehabilitative/sport massage treatments and continually checked in with my patients during the treatment to ensure their comfort. I have always respected my patients' requests to change the treatment if they were uncomfortable, as rehabilitative massage can be uncomfortable for the patient.

These false allegations have ended my massage therapy career that I worked so hard to build over the last 10 years and have been devastating to my future local employment opportunities, so much so that I am having to look for other employment opportunities outside of the province. I may need to initially leave my family behind while I try to find employment opportunities to help financially provide for my family, as these false allegations have been absolutely financially devastating to our family. These false allegations have caused extreme duress to my extended family, friends, professional colleagues and most importantly to the rest of my patients. I have received countless messages of support from all of these groups that has meant so much to both myself and my family.

My wife has been absolutely supportive throughout this horrific time for our family and we cannot wait to have this issue resolved as quickly as possible. It is very disappointing that we have to wait so long to have our day in court. We have in no way delayed this process as we want to have our chance to prove my innocence as soon as possible so we can try to start rebuilding our lives."