Adelaide cafe owner guilty of assaulting teenage waitress
A court has found an Adelaide cafe owner guilty of indecently assaulting a 16-year-old waitress in a storeroom.
The teenager was employed as a waitress at a venue owned by Miguel Dantas De Sa. On one evening shift, De Sa offered the girl $200 to have sex with him.
The girl testified that De Sa had asked her to accompany him into the cool room before he stood "real close" to her and asked her what she would do for $200.
De Sa ordered her to lock the door and sit on his lap before asking her questions about her sexual history and whether she would have sex with him for $200.
He asked if she would give him a massage for $20 before pushing up against the back of her and indecently assaulted her.
"He told her she would be his best girl, she would get more shifts if she accepted his offer and not to tell anyone," the judgement said.
In a text message the next day, she told him "I don't think it's a very good idea", and received replies saying "I understand and I hope I didn't upset you" and "sorry if I upset you. Are you upset with me?"
Judge Chapman accepted the account of the teenager.
"I get no sense of her embellishing what occurred," the judge said.
"She presented as an honest person who was put in a difficult, awkward and compromising situation by her employer."
Sheridan Randall, 12th May 2020
