King County prosecutors filed additional charges against a Bellevue massage therapist who was accused of molesting an 11-year-old boy last year.
Prosecutors accused Mark Douglas Satterlund, 50, of molesting eight more children, for a total of 11 child molestation or sexual assault charges. Prosecutors say Satterlund also used his post as a driver’s education instructor at Mercer Island’s SWERVE Driving School to attempt to molest students. He allegedly touched the legs, genitals or stomach of five boys he was instructing.
According to court documents, Satterlund also offered to give one boy a “rub down” and was sending inappropriate text messages to another. In both cases, he asked the boys to keep his actions secret from their parents.
As complaints continued to pile up against Satterlund, the driving school sat down with him to talk about the allegations. He admitted to squeezing the upper thigh of one of his students, but said he did it to encourage him, according to court documents. Satterlund admitted to his employer that he should not “touch the students and that he works hard to control his impulse.”
He was reprimanded for his actions, but not fired.
Satterlund was originally charged when he invited an 11-year-old home schooled boy to his home to help with a project. He was the son of a client at his massage parlor. According to court documents, Satterlund touched the boy’s genitals after stripping down to his underwear. He also allegedly touched the boy inappropriately while the mother was face down on the massage table.
Satterlund will be tried June 6, according to the King County Prosecutor’s Office.