Salon owner guilty of sexual battery

Greg Risling

NEWPORT BEACH -- A 39-year-old Costa Mesa man who ran a popular hair

salon pleaded guilty recently to charges he fondled one of his female

customers during a massage.

Robert Keith Cryan was sentenced last month to three months in county

jail and three years of probation for sexual battery and failure to

obtain a massage license. Cryan must also register as a sex offender

under state law.

Cryan owned the NYC Salon on Harbor Boulevard, where he was arrested last

August when a 22-year-old woman said Cryan inappropriately touched her

after she received a haircut.

Cryan offered coupons to his mostly female clientele that allowed him to

massage them. The victim gave Cryan the coupon and the two went into a

back room where the crime occurred.

The woman was shaken enough that she wrote a letter to the court

expressing her dismay over Cryan’s actions.

“When I think of what he did, it makes me sick to my stomach,” the woman

wrote. “The embarrassment I’ve experienced is nothing compared to the

hurt I felt. He has gotten away with this before and he planned to do it

again.”

The woman may have learned about other possible victims after Cryan’s

arrest. Prosecutors were ready to call several women at trial who

allegedly had similar problems with Cryan. However, prosecutors didn’t

file the charges because Cryan was usually alone with one woman, making

it difficult to gain a conviction.

“We were concerned there were other victims,” said Costa Mesa police Lt.

Ron Smith. “But when there is smoke, there is usually a fire. We hope

this stops him from ever victimizing other women again.”

Last month, Cryan sold his business to a new owner, who reopened the

salon last week under a new name -- Millenni Cuts. The new owner, who

asked to remain anonymous, said Cryan gave his reasons for selling his

business.

“He said he was going back to the Army,” she said. “He said it was only

going to be for a few months, but I believed him. I had no idea he was

going to jail.”

Despite the conviction, Cryan was also known for organizing a

fund-raising drive last May to assist the families of the children who

were killed and injured at Southcoast Early Childhood Learning Center.

He enlisted the help of four salons and barber shops. Together, they

raised more than $1,300.