Anderson manicurist sentenced for sexual battery

An Anderson manicurist Monday was ordered to register as a sex offender for life after he admitted to rubbing and pinching the breast of a customer last year.

Manh Nguyen, 43, of Redding pleaded no contest in August to misdemeanor sexual battery after he was arrested in June 2008 at the Wetley Nails salon on Balls Ferry Road.

Nguyen, who reached a negotiated settlement with prosecutors, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Molly Bigelow to three years' informal probation and 20 days of community service.

He also was ordered to complete a counseling program and his cosmetology license is being suspended while he's on probation.

Electronic Superior Court records show that Nguyen was unsuccessfully prosecuted for sexual battery in 2005-2006.

One count of misdemeanor sexual battery against him was dismissed after one of his alleged victims died. A Shasta County jury could not reach a verdict on the remaining count, the records show.

Nguyen was arrested by Anderson police in the most recent case when a customer said that he had sexually assaulted her at the business.

An Anderson police report said that the woman, who had been going to Nguyen for five years, had her nails done by him on June 17, 2008, and that she was waiting for them to dry.

While waiting, she said, Nguyen began to rub her shoulders from behind her and then slipped his hand down her shirt.

She said that he rubbed her breast and pinched her nipple before she smacked his hand and pushed it away, the police report said.

Police, who met with the victim, enlisted her help in telephoning Nguyen as they listened in and recorded the conversation.

In that conversation, Nguyen apologized for his conduct and promised he would never do that again, the police report said.

"I'm so sorry," Nguyen said in that conversation, the report said. "I don't want you mad at me."

Police contacted Nguyen the following day and he confessed to police that he grabbed the woman's breast, the police report said.