Sound Off: Island County justice system failed the victims

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, June 24, 2026

By RYAN KELLY

A woman booked a massage appointment through the Dragonfly Massage website with a licensed massage therapist. Like most people, she assumed a professional license meant something and that institutions would act if professional boundaries were violated.

Instead, she became one of four women who ultimately came forward against Christopher Blunt, a Freeland massage therapist who later pleaded guilty to felony sex crimes involving patients.

During what should have been a professional health care appointment, Blunt touched her without consent, kissed her on the forehead, and told her, “Thank you for sharing your body with me.”

Those words have no place in a health care setting.

That woman was my wife.

The facts are not complicated. Four women came forward. The Washington State Department of Health determined Blunt represented an immediate threat to public health and safety. His license was suspended and he pleaded guilty to felony sex crimes involving patients.

Yet for more than two years, victims repeatedly prepared for hearings and trial dates only to have them postponed, continued or moved. Despite being subpoenaed and required to participate, victims often received no direct notification when hearings changed. My wife learned that Blunt had entered a guilty plea not from Island County, but from another witness.

Island County also failed at times to properly redact court documents, publicly identifying victims whose privacy should have been protected. Under Judge Christon Skinner’s supervision, hearings were moved, delayed and adjusted to accommodate the accused, while victims often struggled to obtain even basic communication from Island County.

After more than two years, the suspension of his license, a guilty plea and four women coming forward, the sentence imposed on June 3 was 60 days in jail. On June 8, victims received notification that Blunt had already been released from custody. In total, he served approximately 40 days.

That contrast is difficult to ignore. The process consumed years of the victims’ lives. The incarceration was measured in weeks. The women who came forward will carry those consequences for the rest of their lives.

Accountability should mean more than asking victims to endure years of investigations, hearings, delays and uncertainty while the consequences for the offender are measured in days and weeks.

Patients booked and paid through Dragonfly Massage and trusted the business. Yet when Blunt stopped practicing, the public was not warned about the investigation or allegations. Instead, Dragonfly publicly thanked him for his “amazing treatment massage work.”

The public deserved more transparency.

Then came sentencing.

Approximately 50 members of Trinity Lutheran Church attended in support of Blunt. The issue is not that church members supported one of their own. The issue is that little consideration appeared to be given to how that support would be experienced by the women sitting only feet away, preparing to speak about harm that Blunt had already admitted causing.

The contrast was stark. While women who had been sexually violated by a licensed healthcare provider prepared to publicly discuss some of the most painful experiences of their lives, portions of the crowd appeared disconnected from the gravity of the moment. The atmosphere often felt less like a sentencing and more like a Sunday School field trip.

Christopher Blunt was not navigating an awkward social interaction. He was a licensed health care provider treating patients in a professional setting. The obligations of his license and professional boundaries were clear.

He had a choice, and he chose to violate the trust placed in him for his own sexual gratification.

The next woman who books a massage through a healthcare business on Whidbey Island will place the same trust in a license, a business, a court system and the institutions charged with protecting her.

This community should demand accountability and insist that those institutions prove themselves worthy of that trust.

Ryan Kelly is a South Whidbey resident.