MARYVILLE, Tenn. — A Maryville Police Department officer accused Xiedong Xu of rape at a massage business in Maryville. The officer said she was sent on an undercover operation to investigate whether the business was operating without a license, court documents said.
In a lawsuit filed against Xu and the Foothills Mall, the officer said a female employee walked her into a room for massages and told her to "take off her clothes and lay face down."
"While purporting to engage in a massage, the Defendant Xu engaged in a series of sexual assaults on the Plaintiff," the lawsuit said.
Court filings show the officer filed a grievance against the City of Maryville on June 14, 2022 — seven days after the alleged assault.
"The lack of planning prior to me entering the business put me at risk for bodily harm," the officer wrote in the grievance.
She asked for the City of Maryville to give her time off for the counseling appointments and for those appointments to be paid for by the city.
The Maryville Daily Times first reported the grievance, the charges and the lawsuit against Xu.
Xu is charged with rape and impersonation of a licensed professional. Filings show last month the criminal case against Xu was bound over to the Grand Jury. They're expected to hear the case in September.
State records show Xiedong Xu was disciplined three times by the Tennessee Massage Licensure Board. He was first disciplined in 2014 for not keeping up with his continuing education requirements. In 2017, the board said he operated massage clinics with people who weren't licensed. It revoked the license for his business and put his license on probation.
In 2019, the board found Xu operated a clinic that was unlicensed, and he agreed to give up his massage therapy license.
The City of Maryville and the Maryville Police Department provided a statement to 10News:
As we go about our daily work, we are faced with certain realities. One of those is that police work is dangerous and every day can bring unforeseen threats to each member of our police force. While we do our best to protect our employees from harm – including through a rigorous requirement of training and development, this inherent risk is understood and an unfortunate reality for our profession.