Jose left his abusive home at 15 after being kicked out by his less-than-accepting family, for being gay. After being forced by his parents to choose between conversion therapy camp or being homeless, Jose bounced around couch surfing with friends until he landed in the home and in the arms of Jason Gandy.
The two met on the first night Jose was homeless, through a site called Gay.com, which is now shut down.
Jose telling Gandy about the situation he is in wastes no time in grooming Jose, by providing a sense of understanding and acceptance to Jose. By the following day, Jose has moved in with Gandy who introduced Jose to the massage business he runs out of his home.
Telling Jose it's a way to help make extra money, he agrees and Gandy begins taking illicit photos of Jose that he uses on sites like Craigslist to advertise massages by an 18-year-old.
Jose would later state as the other victims did when they testified against Gandy, that the massages started out with just fondling, masturbation, and or molestation. However, over time the abuse would increase to include oral and sexual intercourse. Or in this case, rape as all of these survivors were minors at the time of their abuse.
The day after Jose is violently rapped by one of Gandy's clients, he discovers photos of much younger male boys in compromising situations with Gandy on his laptop and decides it's time to leave Gandy.
Years later Jose would finally escape from his past and begin a new life and career for himself, and then it all came crashing down when he saw the alert put out by the FEDS and Homeland Security on Gandy's arrest and pending trial. Investigators were seeking information on possible victims connected to Gandy. Jose decides to reach out through the human trafficking hotline number that was provided at the end of the alert. He was placed in touch with investigators and was one of 3 additional victims that testified against Gandy and helped to secure a guilty verdict.
