SerpApi.Org
A former Baldwin City massage therapist has been charged with three more sex crimes after a woman recently spoke out about what she said happened to her.
The three additional counts - one charge of rape and two for sexual battery - were filed Monday in Douglas County District Court.
Aaron P. Borger, 45, is now charged with assaulting a total of 11 women during massages at Om Grown Yoga in Baldwin City. With the addition of the new charges, Borger faces three counts of rape, five counts of felony aggravated sexual battery and six for misdemeanor sexual battery, according to online court records.
“I’m not surprised at all,” said Katie Aldis, who reported to police in April that Borger sexually assaulted her during a massage. “I feel like he did this to way more people, but some people aren’t coming forward because they’ve already moved past it.”
The new charges were added to the criminal complaint, but the affidavit describing those allegations is not yet available. District Attorney Dakota Loomis said his office does not comment “on ongoing criminal cases outside of statements made in open court or through filed motions.”
The new charges come after Aldis spoke to The Star in May about what she said happened when she went for a massage on April 3. In that story, Aldis said she thought there were more victims, and she wanted to “put my face out there” so that maybe others who experienced something similar with Borger would “feel strong enough to come forward.”
The alleged crimes at the yoga studio are said to have happened between March 2024 and April 2026. At least three women told police that an owner or owners of Om Grown Yoga were notified about concerns regarding Borger and what they described as inappropriate contact in 2024. But he remained at the studio.
“He was a sexual predator, big time,” Aldis, a healthcare worker and a major in the Army Reserves, said on Monday after learning about the additional charges. “Serial sexual predator.”
Reporting to police
Aldis drove straight from Om Grown Yoga that Good Friday evening, after the massage, to the Baldwin City police station.
Borger, who worked as a part-time massage therapist at the Baldwin City yoga studio, was arrested April 8. He was being held Tuesday in the Douglas County jail and was scheduled to be in court Wednesday afternoon for a status conference.
Om Grown Yoga posted a statement in April on its Facebook page to share “some difficult news” that a “massage therapist previously associated with our studio has been arrested on serious charges.”
“While these legal proceedings are ongoing, we want to be very clear: the safety, sanctity, and trust of our students and clients are our highest priorities,” the post said. “We have zero tolerance for any behavior that compromises the safety or dignity of those in our care.”
Soon after Aldis reported her alleged assault, the town’s police chief issued a news release and asked others who may have had “inappropriate contact” with the massage therapist to reach out to a detective.
Within two days, another seven women came forward.
Reaching out
Aldis filed a lawsuit against Borger and Om Grown Yoga in late May. That suit alleges that the Baldwin City yoga studio had previously received complaints about Borger, with customers reporting “that he touched them in an offensive manner.”
Yet, the suit said, Borger remained at the studio.
Aldis said she didn’t know the other victims and didn’t speak to any of them until after the court affidavit came out in May.
“Once the affidavit came out, I put out there on Facebook that if anybody wanted to discuss any of this, they could reach out,” Aldis said. “Some people reached out then. And a couple people reached out on their own, nonrelated to that.”
And after the article in May, she said she heard from more people.
“We’re all in different lines of work,” Aldis said. “We’re all different ages.”
She said she’s glad others felt empowered to report what they said happened.
“I feel like if people come forward, it helps finalize and conclude this issue in their life,” Aldis said. “You’ve done everything you can do. You came forward. You spoke the truth.”
Whatever happens next, she said, “is out of your hands.”
“But you’re not carrying that in your mind and heart and head, and I think that’s good.”
