A Schuylkill County restaurant owner was found guilty on felony counts of corrupting minors, misdemeanor indecent assault, and other related charges on Wednesday.
Trent Donofrio, 35, of Pine Grove, did not react as Schuylkill County Common Pleas Judge Andrew Serina read aloud his verdict following a two-day trial inside Courtroom 1 at the Courthouse in Pottsville.
Serina found Donofrio guilty on three felony counts of corruption of minors, six misdemeanor counts of indecent assault without consent, two misdemeanor counts of furishiing alcohol to minors, and three summary counts of harassment.
Donofrio was found not guilty on the primary charge of felony sexual exploitation and a misdemeanor count of indecent assault.
Following the verdict, Donofrio’s bail was modified from $50,000 unsecured to $50,000 cash or bond and he was remanded to Schuylkill County Prison, pending sentencing, which is scheduled for April 8.
Serina ordered a pre-sentence investigation and sex offender evaluation.
“He had a type,” prosecutors say
Donofrio is the co-owner of Buddy’s Log Cabin Restaurant on Tremont Rd. in Pine Grove Township. He was on trial over charges that he sexually assaulted three minor female employees numerous times by grabbing or touching their breasts and furnishing them with alcohol.
The non-jury trial was held before Serina. It began last Friday and was continued into a second day on Wednesday.
During testimony from the victims – 16 and 17 years old at the time of the incidents -who detailed how Donofrio sexualized them and made numerous remarks about their bodies and sexual acts.
Their testimony was countered by other employees at the restaurant who said everyone there made jokes of a sexual nature and that it wasn’t uncommon for body parts like breasts and buttocks to be grazed during busy times inside the cramped kitchen quarters there.
Donofrio chose not to testify in his own defense.
Through the course of the trial, opposing attorneys attempted to dispute the credibility of each witness.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Jen Foose and Assistant District Attorney Shelby Hostetter argued the case against Donofrio.
In her closing statement, Hostetter said the acts Donofrio committed against these minor victims went beyond joking. She said he was “grooming” them.
“He groomed them to get them close. He had a type,” she said. “No one thought it was a joke then but today it’s all a big joke.”
She said the victims ultimately decided to come forward to police because “these girls wanted it to stop.
Hostetter argued that the victims put up with Donofrio’s actions for as long as they did because they were motivated to keep their jobs and make their boss happy.
“The manipulation was so strong and there’s nowhere else to go,” she said.
Donofrio was represented by Todd Mays, of the Wyomissing firm of Mays & Rotenberg.
In his closing argument, Mays argued that Foose and Hostetter did not meet their burden of proof on the most serious charges against his client.
He argued that the prosecution didn’t prove that his client did what he was found guilty of doing for sexual gratification, what he says is a requirement for charging indecent assault.
Mays once again pointed to the layout of the kitchen as the reason why his client grazed the breasts of the victims.
“There was no pressure. There was no smacks. Sure, there may have been some touching,” he said. “Their witnesses testified it happened.
They all indicate there may have been inappropriate comments,” Mays said, but not to the level of indecent assault.
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