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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Fear of Retaliation Anonymous But Present at Hearing
January 31, 2026 at 7:37 am
First of all, and unfortunately for those who initiated a civil suit for purposes of GREED, Trent is NOT an owner of the restaurant. CRC, can you please correct your article? When a FB post was made stating they would own Buddies? And then the allegations start coming out, but the post was removed? Meta data search could likely still find that.
I will not make excuses for the inappropriate sexual bantering, especially of underage girls but make no mistake you cannot believe these girls were innocent of not participating willingly or even encouraging this improper banter. Why, when anything occurred inappropriately, did any of these girls who claim to be affected and offended, did they continue to work there and why not report it at that time – immediately? Why did one of the girls text others that she would ONLY return to work for Trent and not the real owners, if it was so intolerable and unbearable as she was so scared? Where did an underage girl get a dildo which she gave to Trent, and that was all a big joke?
Why report this just before Trent and his new bride were on their honeymoon? Maybe, because one of the ladies had a crush on Trent and told several different people, the marriage won’t last and that he never should have married her.
What about making up an allegation of rape, which never did occur? What about texting and colluding to get more people to come forward? What about one who didn’t testify but admitted that she lied about what she told the cops? Do these sound like ‘credible’ people?
That skinny ADA was certainly reaching and discriminatory in her assessment that there was a
‘type’ that was being groomed. So, other than skinny pretty white girls, no one else was credible?
How exactly does one while working at a grill, cook while not facing the grill, so that their chests were all ‘groped’ in the same way? When one of the girls asked Trent to get her alcohol and he said ‘fucking blow me’ – rather than, ‘no’ apparently that was another trigger of discontent. Not an appropriate response for a manager – subordinate in a workplace.
Sources do know there are summer parties where alcohol is being served to minors including some of these innocent girls.
There was most certainly reasonable doubt presented, and the judge was likely just trying to make a name for himself as recently appointed to the bench. He had no intention of listening to the defense or considering their testimony to be credible.
Again, if I had a daughter, granddaughter or niece who came home and tell me inappropriate things were said by their manager, I would encourage them to quit immediately and seek employment elsewhere. Buddies isn’t the only place to work in Pine Grove. There would also be adult conversation happening with the alleged adult, making it clear that it wouldn’t happen again.
But you all believe what you want, because I can assure you, the media doesn’t have its facts correct as usual, all skinny pretty white girls are not completely and totally innocent, and yes, older or any adult managers should 1. Not hire underage girls, and 2. Say or do the things high school boys do to girls even if it is a fun working environment where everyone laughs the behaviors off.
But you condemn and convict a young man who made mistakes, but you have ruined his life and the life of his family and 2 beautiful little children who can’t even see their father because he’s been made out to be a ‘sexual predator’ and so scary.
Skook a fricken doodle doo.