Paul Dobbs, the owner of Essential Kneads Therapeutic Massage in Athens, was found not guilty Thursday of harassing Rachell Pyle, the Limestone County woman who accused him of intentionally stroking her genitals during a routine massage last June.

During the brief trial in Athens Municipal Court, Judge Donald Mansell heard testimony from a tearful Pyle who described the alleged assault in detail. In addition to accusing Dobbs of inappropriately touching her, she said he offered to provide her with sexual favors in the future, free of charge. Decatur attorney John Mays represented Dobbs, who denied all of Pyle’s claims.

Much of the case hinged on a telephone text message in which Dobbs apologized to Pyle’s husband, Jason, for “crossing a line.”

When City Prosecutor Patrick Chesnut questioned Dobbs about which line he crossed, Dobbs gave the following explanation:

“She turned quicker than I was ready for and I kind of got a flash,” Dobbs said. “The apology was primarily for crossing the line in that I should have terminated the massage when I had been flashed. I should have ended the massage and asked her to leave.”

Pyle denied during the trial she purposely showed her naked body to Dobbs during the June 30 massage.

“He just made that up to cover himself,” she said.

Jason Pyle said he believes a series of texts from July 3 and 4, 2017, confirm Dobbs assaulted his wife. However, those texts were not entered into evidence.

Rachell Pyle shared copies of the texts with The News Courier during a Dec. 19, 2017, interview.

In the July 3 text, Jason Pyle confronted Dobbs about the incident. Dobbs responded to Pyle’s text the next day, July 4. In his reply, Dobbs wrote, “I’m begging for forgiveness. I had a moment of insanity for which I am very much ashamed.”

He went on to write that he “learned a valuable lesson” and that “there will never be a crossing of that line again. I’ve always valued the friendship we have and now, of all times, I made a mistake for which I’m grieving very much over.”

In closing, he asked Pyle to forgive his stupidity and to pray for him.

During a Dec. 19, 2017, telephone conversation, Dobbs confirmed to the News Courier he had written the July 4 text.

As for why his text contained apologetic language, a reference to momentary insanity and the fact he was ashamed, Dobbs said, “I was under a lot of stress, sometimes your wording does not come out very well.”

Jason Pyle believes if Judge Mansell had seen the language in the texts, he would have been more likely to find the massage therapist guilty. Pyle said Chesnut had led him to believe he had entered the texts between Dobbs and Pyle into evidence and that he would call Pyle to testify at the trial to confirm the details of the correspondence.

Pyle said he was told by Chesnut, “that my confirmation (that the texts were sent) would be good enough for the judge.”

Chesnut failed to call Pyle to testify on his wife’s behalf, while Mays called five character witnesses who testified about Dobbs’ reputation in the community and good character. At the judge’s request, only one witness, Thomas G. Spray of Athens, vouched for Dobbs after the rest of her character witnesses confirmed they would offer similar testimony.

Chesnut declined to comment on why he didn’t enter the texts into evidence. He said he was very disappointed with the verdict.

“He admitted to apologizing, which I considered a confession that he was guilty,” Chesnut said.

In the end, Mansell said the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dobbs was guilty

Rachell Pyle left the courtroom clearly shaken.

“I thought this was an open-and-shut case,” Jason Pyle angrily told The News Courier by telephone after the trial. “I never thought he would walk out of there innocent. There is no justice for Rachell.”

Dobbs declined to comment as he left Municipal Court, referring The News Courier to his lawyer, who said he was pleased with the verdict.

“In so many cases, it’s just one person’s word against another,” Mays said. “The vanguard of the American legal justice system is that his guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecution didn’t meet that standard.”

“Dobbs has spent his whole life in this community and there has never been a word spoken against him in the many years he’s been in business,” the Decatur-based lawyer said.

Pyle said she plans to sue Dobbs in civil court.