Dairy Queen Franchise Owner Arrested For Alleged Molestation Of 15 Year Employee
by Alex Lloyd Gross
PHOTO OF THE DAIRY QUEEN BY DAN DOYLE DELAWARE VALLEY NEWS.COM
Most 15 year olds are very excited about their first job. It’s not glamorous and it does not pay well at all, but it’s a job. Washing dishes, cleaning, serving customers, etc. One 15 year old girl is devastated after she worked the first day of her job at a Dairy Queen on 2nd Street Pike in Northampton. At the end of her shift, she was allegedly groped by the owner of the franchise, police said.
According to police, Parthkumar Patel was the manager of the shop. Most employees called him “Pete” On the first day of spring, Dairy Queen gives out free ice cram and the store is busy. During that day, at the end of her shift, Patel asked the 15 year old to come into the office to talk about a complaint. The door was closed and the two were inside.
It is unclear what the “complaint” was but during this sit down meeting, Patel also told the girl she was getting a promotion and a raise to $12.00/hr. All she had to do was sit at the desk and fill out paperwork on the computer. While the girl did this, Patel would allegedly put his hands on her shoulder and move them to the 15 year old’s breasts.
With employees coming in to the back office, that is as far as it went, police said. When the girl left the office, she was visibly upset. Store managers went to review security camera footage and found it to be erased. This was shortly after the meeting in the back office.
Police were called when the girl told her parents. When officers arrived at the Dairy Queen to speak with Patel. He told them there was a problem with the files containing the security video. Police served him a search warrant, took the computer to the Philadelphia Regional Forensic Laboratory, where the deleted video was able to be recovered. Police said it showed the groping incident.
Patel was arrested and charged with Corruption Of a Minor, Indecent Assault, tampering with evidence and related charges. Patel lives in Huntingdon Valley Pa. He was released on $75,000 unsecured bail. The restaurant remains closed.