State regulators have suspended the license of a Des Moines massage parlor owner charged with professional incompetence.
In March 2025, the Iowa Board Massage Therapy charged Byron Patterson, the proprietor of Byron’s Best Massage in Des Moines, with unethical conduct and professional incompetence.
According to the board, approximately 80% or more of Patterson’s clients are women and approximately that same percentage are age 40 and above.
The board alleges that more than three years ago, in January 2023, client C.F. complained that during her initial three appointments with Patterson he covered her chest with a towel, leaving only her stomach exposed for a portion of the massage. According to the board, C.F. alleged that during her fourth visit, in December 2022, Patterson “stripped the towel off of her whole body, spun it in the air, and draped it horizontally across her groin area only,” leaving her arms, legs, and torso, including her breasts, exposed for the remainder of the massage.
Board records indicate that in March 2024, almost 14 months after the complaint was lodged, board investigator Laci Olson was assigned to the case. Eight months later, in November 2024, Olson interviewed Patterson, and in March 2025, the board charged Patterson with professional incompetence and engaging in unethical conduct
According to the board, a second client, K.B., filed a complaint with the board in September 2025, after seeing a news article about the disciplinary proceedings related to C.F.’s allegations.
In her complaint, K.B. alleged she had received a massage from Patterson 24 years prior, in 2001, during which he had massaged her buttocks and breasts. That complaint was immediately assigned to investigator Derreck Ross, who interviewed Patterson about the matter in October 2025.
At a recent board hearing on the matter, the board said it found C.F. and K.B. to be credible, adding that “the information they provided is largely consistent with how Patterson himself described how he performs chest and abdominal massage in his practice.”
The board attributed C.F.’s complaint to a “lack of communication related to the exposure of her breasts.” In K.B.’s case, the board attributed the complaint to a “lack of communication related to the fact of the chest being massaged” without K.B.’s consent.
The board concluded Patterson was guilty of professional incompetence due to the “lack of clear communication prior to working in a sensitive area.”
As for the charge of unethical conduct related to improper sexual contact, the board concluded that charge was unproven, as all of the hearing testimony indicated there was no improper sexual contact in the case of either K.B. or C.F.
Stating that there is no evidence of any prior disciplinary action having been taken by the board against Patterson, the board ruled that a 30-day suspension of Patterson’s license was appropriate. In addition, Patterson will be required to successfully complete some unspecified form of “ethics education.”
The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach Patterson for comment.
