Updated: Former Comfort Zone Masseur Arrested, Held for Arraignment

The Ross Township masseur arrested this week on an indecent assault charge also was charged with a similar offense last year in suburban Chicago, but the case was dropped because his accuser did not appear for a hearing, authorities said.

Xin Hua Zhang, a former masseur at the Comfort Zone in Ross Park Mall, now is awaiting trial in Allegheny County, according to Ross Township police, who took him into custody Thursday morning. He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail, where he is awaiting formal arraignment on Aug. 1, according to Allegheny County Arraignment Court.

Zhang, 58, turned himself in to Ross police after they obtained a warrant charging him with failing to show at a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. Zhang on Wednesday was held for court on one count of indecent assault stemming from an incident May 9 at the Comfort Zone — a massage kiosk on the Ross Park Mall’s second level.

When police arrested him on May 15, they said Zhang possessed only a Colorado identification card. Court records indicate he lives in an apartment at 145 McKnight Circle, Ross.

While living last year in Aurora, IL, Zhang was charged with criminal sexual abuse -- a misdemeanor -- after a woman customer reported on July 13 that he touched her inappropriately during a massage at Health Magic in the Westfield Fox Valley Shopping Mall in Aurora.

With the assistance of an interpreter, Zhang denied any wrongdoing at that time, according to news accounts of his court hearing in DuPage County. The charge there was dropped and the case closed because his accuser did not appear for a hearing, according to the DuPage County State's Attorney's office.

A spokesman for Ross Park Mall said supervisors at the Comfort Zone immediately fired Zhang after learning of the May 9 incident. Comfort Zone operates a chain of mall-based massage kiosks.

Ross Police said they arrested him after a Comfort Zone customer said he touched her in a “very inappropriate” manner during a 30-minute massage. The woman said Zhang pressed his genitals against her hands several times and also touched the sides of her breasts in an inappropriate manner, police said.

The identity of the woman is not being disclosed because of the nature of her complaint. After his arrest on May 15, Zhang was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Richard Opiela and released on $5,000 bond.

Mall spokesman Saul Markowitz said he was uncertain how long Zhang had been employed at the Comfort Zone. Employees on Friday declined comment and indicated they could not speak English.

North Hills Local Editor AmyJo Brown and Patch correspondent Dan Campagna in Illinois contributed.