Why did it take so long to revoke massage therapist's license after crime, and who is getting licenses despite convictions?
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It took the State of Illinois more than seven months to take away a convicted sex offender's massage therapy license.
CBS 2's Tara Molina first brought you the story Wednesday on a lawsuit against a suburban Massage Envy location by Christine Schirtzinger – who said massage therapist James "Rob" Garrett sexually violated her at a massage therapy session in 2020.
On Thursday, Molina had questions for the state – which dropped the ball after the sexual abuse had taken place.
Garrett should have had lost his license right away – as soon as he was convicted back in March, according to CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller.
So why was his license active for more than seven months after the fact? Molina is told one of the state's departments dropped the ball.
"I wish that I had gotten justice," Schirtzinger said Wednesday.
Schirtzinger is an Ironman triathlete, coach, and mentor. You first heard from her on CBS 2.
She was sexually abused by Garrett the Massage Envy at Geneva Commons in 2020. It took almost two years - and court hearing after court hearing - to see her criminal complaint against Garrett through.
Garrett ultimately pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted criminal sexual abuse in March of this year - registering as a sex offender and agreeing to no longer work as a massage therapist.
But the State of Illinois didn't officially revoke his license until November.
"After everything I've gone through - I have gone through 14 hearings, hours of interviews, two years of my life - and this man who's been convicted of a sex crime is still a licensed massage therapist in the state of Illinois?" Schirtzinger said.
So what took more than seven months?
During those months, Garrett was technically in good standing with the state for anyone who checked his license status.
We asked the Illinois Department if Financial and Professional Regulation. A spokesperson told us the first complaint they have on record is from July 2022, and Illinois State Police – who are in charge of the state sex offender registry - didn't notify them of the sexual abuse conviction until October. This is the full statement from IDFPR public information officer Chris Slaby:
"As the agency responsible for the oversight of 1.2 million professional licensees, IDFPR is primarily a complaint-driven agency with complaints of potential violations by licensees coming from various sources and entities leading to investigations. No complaint was filed against Mr. Garrett until July 22, 2022. Upon receiving that complaint, IDFPR immediately started its internal and statutory procedures for reviewing complaints. Since massage therapy is a profession that requires fingerprints from applicants for licensure, IDFPR receives notifications of any convictions after a license is issued from Illinois State Police. IDFPR received notice from ISP in early October of the conviction of an offense requiring registration as a sex offender, which triggered the aforementioned statutory process that led to the revocation of Mr. Garrett's license on November 7. That included a 30-day opportunity for Mr. Garrett to request a hearing to contest the basis of the action, which did not occur."
But still, what took so long?
"He should've lost the license," Miller said.
Our legal analyst said that should have happened right away - and one of the agencies involved had to have dropped the ball. He examined Illinois State Police and how they reported the sex offender status to the state's licensing agency.
"First thing they should've done is run over and say: 'Hey listen, you know, you're giving this guy a license - and he's a convicted sex offender. He shouldn't be performing massages. You should revoke this license.'"
We are still waiting for Illinois State Police to address the timeline and the delay. There was also no response from the Kane County State's Attorney's office on our questions for clarification.
Meanwhile, here is another surprise. Slaby at the IDFPR said for the past several years, more than 95 percent of applicants with a past conviction that is not automatically barred by the law have obtained their massage therapy license in Illinois. And the list of the past convictions that are do not automatically bar an applicant from obtaining such a license may be an even bigger surprise.
First-degree murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated vehicular hijacking, arson, assault, stalking, theft, and kidnapping are just a few of the criminal convictions the State of Illinois will consider when determining an application for a massage therapy license. Again, none of them automatically bar an applicant.
The IDFPR said "convictions are reviewed in the application process, along with past history."
The department asks applicants to disclose this history.
According to the state, "more than 95 percent of applicants" with a disclosed conviction have received their license over the "past several years."
As we noted Wednesday, Schirtzinger's lawsuit said Garrett had a felony record when he obtained his massage license – which was eight years before he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing Schirtzinger. His was for felony theft.
So was Garrett among the more than 95 percent? We asked the state, and this was Slaby's answer, with some additional information on the kind of crimes that are, in fact, automatic license bars:
"Per the FAQs, theft is not a conviction that is an automatic bar to obtaining a massage therapist license in Illinois. A conviction of sexual misconduct, prostitution, rape, and/or any offense requiring registration under the Sex Offender Registration Act is an automatic bar to obtaining a massage therapist license in Illinois. A conviction of one of these offenses is required to act as a bar, while other convictions are reviewed in the application process, along with past history."
The IDFPR provided this document on convictions and licensing.
"The system has let me down from one end to the other," Schirtzinger said Wednesday.
Enter legal analyst Miller.
"The Illinois Department of Professional Regulation gets to decide what licenses they will give out to what type of people - and the mere fact you're convicted of a felony may not disqualify you from getting, for example, a massage license," Miller said.
Why would that be?
"I wish I could give you an answer to that question," he said. "It doesn't make a lot of sense to me."
And is this standard practice? We are still waiting for the state to address those questions.
"It's troubling," Miller said. "It's not what you would call an action of trying to protect the public from a possible sexual offender."
We asked IDFPR if the more than 95 percent of convictions are one category – such as theft, for example – or if people with violent criminal histories are really making it through review and getting licensed. The IDFPR did not clarify.
