The owner of a Missoula tattoo and piercing parlor is facing sexual assault accusations stemming from incidents alleged to have happened at the shop over the last year.
Andrew Villa III, who works at 406 Art and Soul, is charged with one count of sexual intercourse without consent, a felony.
He is also charged with five misdemeanors: two counts of sexual assault and one count each of indecent exposure and surreptitious visual observation or recording in a public establishment. He’s also facing one misdemeanor charge of violating rules of licensed tattoo and body piercing establishments.
Villa hasn’t entered a plea yet. His initial appearance is scheduled for Feb. 6 in Missoula County District Court. Missoula Deputy County Attorney Brielle Lande is prosecuting the case.
406 Art and Soul referred requests for comment to Villa's attorney, Missoula lawyer Dwight Schulte. He had no comment on the pending case.
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If convicted, Villa faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.
A woman reported to officials that she went to 406 Art and Soul on South Avenue on Dec. 1, 2021. The woman met a man who identified himself as “Druskee,” later determined to be Villa, according to an affidavit filed into Missoula County District Court on Monday.
While she was tattooed by him, Villa allegedly made comments about her outfit. They were the only two people in the shop, she reported. The survivor indicated to Villa she had been thinking about getting her genital area pierced and Villa reportedly offered to do it for free.
Villa then told the woman about his genital piercing and exposed himself to her, charging documents allege. Villa said he needed to measure her genital area to see if the piercing was doable.
As he was measuring the area where the piercing would go, the woman claimed Villa sexually assaulted her and she declined to get the piercing done at the time.
On Jan. 27, 2022, Villa was interviewed by Missoula police detectives about the woman’s allegations. He told police he remembered talking to the woman about getting a genital piercing and that he measured her genital area and the two swapped phone numbers, but said that was the extent of their contact. Villa maintained 406 Art and Soul is a professional parlor, and walked detectives through the piercing process for a woman’s genital region, according to the affidavit.
A few days later, on Feb. 1, 2022, a second woman reported to law enforcement that Villa sexually assaulted her while she was getting her nipples pierced at 406 Art and Soul one day prior, on Jan. 31.
The second survivor described to officials that when she was alone with Villa in the piercing area, he immediately started making comments about her breasts and physical appearance, charging documents allege.
He exposed himself to her and assaulted her during the piercing process, she said.
As the woman was looking at her new piercings in a mirror, Villa allegedly took a phone out and snapped a photo when she was doing this, according to the affidavit. Villa then sexually assaulted her again, she said.
In April, detectives talked with Villa about the second woman's accusations. He recalled piercing her, but said he had never engaged in sexual activity with his customers. He told detectives he'd never put either woman's hand on his genital area and said both women propositioned him for sex.
He also disclosed to police that he keeps pictures of intimate piercings on his private phone with permission from clients, charging documents allege.
Police talked to a man who owns a separate tattoo shop in Missoula.
"(He) noted several irregularities between what Villa described as professional and his practices," the affidavit reads, including that it wouldn't be normal to measure a woman's genital area for a piercing.
The charging documents also point to online reviews that call into question the shop’s practice, including “unprofessional conduct, poor sanitation measures, and frustrations about the quality of Villa’s work.”