A PERVERTED spiritualist has been jailed for three years after abusing the trust of vulnerable women during reiki healing sessions.

Ian Gray, of Point Road, Canvey, carried out the Japanese alternative therapy in the ‘reading rooms’ at his home, where he sexually assaulted the women between December 2008 and February 2014.

He denied the offences but was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault after a trial last month.

Reiki- which is supposed to direct energy to different parts of the body via the practitioner’s palms- is largely a ‘hands-off’ therapy but Gray took the opportunity to grope and fondle his patients.

Basildon Crown Court heard that throughout the period when the assaults took place, the 59-year-old insisted that his actions- which included kissing and fondling their breasts- were part of the therapy.

Diana Pigot, prosecuting, said one of his victims had been left with severe anxiety and depression as a result.

She said: “She very much treated the reading rooms as her second home and treated the defendant as a father figure.

“She felt totally dominated by him.”

The court heard how during one incident Gray kissed a woman on the lips and the belly button and touched her through her clothes.

On another occasion, he blocked the door with a chair and placed a “heavy mask” over his victim’s eyes, before putting his tongue in her mouth.

The most serious charge involved several assaults where he touched a woman underneath her clothes on numerous occasions.

She endured the abuse only because Gray insisted it would help her with her problems in the long term.

Matthew Bagnall, mitigating, said prior to the allegations, Gray had shown “exemplary” conduct and at least 18 women had provided statements claiming to have been helped by his methods.

He said: “There are a number of character references from people who came to him through ill health and were in a very dark place in their lives who derived considerable help and assistance from the defendant.”

Mr Bagnall asked for this to be taken as a “significant mitigating factor” but Judge Jonathan Black said a custodial sentence was “inevitable”.

He said: “They trusted you and they came for treatment. You repaid that trust by sexually abusing them.”

Gray was jailed for two-and-a-half years for the most serious sexual assault charge and six months for another charge, to run consecutively.

He was handed an 18 month sentence for two other assaults but they will run at the same time.

The healer will also have to sign the sex offenders register.

Speaking after the hearing, investigating officer DC Jon Holden, said: "The sentence given today reflects the seriousness of the offences committed against these women.

"Ian Gray took full advantage of his position as a reiki healer and spiritualist medium and targeted these vulnerable victims who came to him for help.

"He returned their trust in him by sexually abusing them over a long period of time.

"Gray was predatory in his actions, grooming his victims while maintaining an air of respectability throughout the local community and spiritualist community.

"If it wasn’t for the bravery of the women who came forward, he would not have been brought to justice and I can only commend them for breaking their silence.”