A Florida man is accused of raping a fellow employee at a Pizza Hut in Osceola County. Police say the Pizza Hut manager cornered the teen girl after ordering her to clean the female bathroom at the restaurant and sexually assaulted the high school junior.
Deputies with the Osceola County Sheriff's Office responded to a "rape in progress" report at a Pizza Hut on the west side of Osceola County on Aug. 26, according to WOFL. Police meet with the alleged victim – a teen girl who recently started working at the pizza restaurant.
The victim – a 16-year-old high school student – alleged that her manager ordered her to clean the female bathroom of the restaurant. The Pizza Hut manager – identified by police as 32-year-old Calvin Cooke – purportedly followed the teen girl into the bathroom. The Florida man is accused of shutting the door and committing sex acts on the teen girl – who had only started working at Pizza Hut "just a few weeks" earlier.
Another employee allegedly saw that the underage employee was being raped and notified the girl's parents, who then contacted police.
"They called 911. When detectives spoke to the victim, she said she was worried about making him upset and was concerned about her job," said Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez. "In this case, she was concerned about her job, losing it. Her first job that she could buy things for herself and so she's going to subject herself to this, some guy trying to influence her, being persistent through social media and at work."
The victim said her supervisor quickly began flirting with her after she started the job. He allegedly messaged her on Snapchat, gifted her an electronic cigarette, and sent her nude photos of himself.
Police arrested Cooke. He was charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor, transmitting information that's harmful to a minor, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Cooke was taken to the Osceola County Jail, where he was being held on a $33,000 bond.
Cooke has reportedly been fired from Pizza Hut.
A Pizza Hut spokesperson issued a statement regarding the sexual assault allegations: "Pizza Hut takes these allegations very seriously and has been in contact with the franchisee who owns and operates the restaurant at issue. The franchisee has made the decision to terminate the manager while they continue to cooperate with the local authorities in their investigation."
"When deputies contacted Calvin, he admitted he knew she was a juvenile, and he admitted he performed sex acts on her," Lopez stated.
Lopez said, "The actions of this individual are not only disgusting and disturbing beyond words can describe, but they are the betrayal and disruption of trust we put into adults."
Lopez believes that the girl will likely be "scarred for life."
"The reason we put him on blast and put his picture out there is because imagine this is your friend and your daughters or this is your neighbor," Lopez said at a press conference. "You want to know who this guy is. These are the type of people we want to keep off the streets to make sure we keep the kids safe."
Sheriff Lopez warned that predators like Cooke "exist" and advised parents to "monitor what your children are doing," especially on social media.
The sheriff is concerned that there could be additional victims and said: "We want to make sure he's held accountable and responsible if he has committed these acts on anybody else."
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