A therapist who ran a Manhattan practice catering to gay men was arrested for sexually assaulting two “vulnerable” patients, prosecutors said Thursday.
Joseph LoGuidice, head of private LGBTQ therapy group Variety Practice, is accused of anally raping a 30-something victim in his office in November 2022, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Claudia Khoury-Yacoub charged.
The horrifying encounter came after the patient — who had been attending therapy to cope with a recent sexual assault — told LoGuidice he didn’t want to have sex because he was recovering from surgery on his anus, according to prosecutors.
LoGuidice, founder of Liberation Psychotherapy, allegedly began preying on the victim shortly after he became a patient of the therapy group in Fall 2022, Khoury-Yacoub said at a bail hearing in Manhattan court Thursday.
During a therapy session, LoGuidice allegedly first made a “flirtatious comment” and leaned in and kissed the patient, Khoury-Yacoub said.
“They entered the office where the defendant closed the blinds,” she said.
There, the victim performed oral and anal sex on LoGuidice inside his office, according to the prosecutor.
“He told complainant one to not tell his private therapist,” Khoury-Yacoub said.
LoGuidice allegedly anally raped the victim in a separate incident in his office — before telling him to “attend the other sessions…. [where] men there were hotter,” according to the prosecutor.
The patient suffered panic attacks after the encounter and reported it on Aug. 18, 2026, prosecutors said.
LoGuidice is also accused of sexually assaulting a second patient, who had been seeking therapy for an abusive relationship in fall 2022, according to prosecutors.
In that case, the patient said LoGuidice first made comments that made him feel “uncomfortable” by telling him he’s “attractive” and allegedly commenting on his penis, according to prosecutors.
He allegedly kissed the patient in a bathroom at a therapy session on Jan. 8, 2024 and told him to follow him to an office under construction.
They then allegedly had oral sex and LoGuidice ordered the patient to “not tell anyone” because he would get in trouble, according to Khoury-Yacoub.
“When can I suck on that d—k,” LoGuidice allegedly texted the patient in Nov. 2025, according to prosecutors.
LoGuidice was charged with rape in the third degree, sexual abuse, and 10 counts of criminal sex act in the third degree.
He was held on $100,000 cash or $300,000 partially secured bond Thursday afternoon by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Cori Weston.
“Liberation Psychotherapy’s clinical director, Joseph LoGiudice, allegedly sexually assaulted two patients in his care at the very practice he founded,” Manhattan District Attorney Bragg said.
“While expressly described as an LGBTQ-centered practice, we allege that LoGiudice abused the trust placed in him as a therapist to sexually assault members of the LGBTQ community he serves. This investigation is ongoing.”
