MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — An assistant manager at a Lakeville McDonald’s has been charged with criminal sexual conduct after allegedly touching two employees – one of whom was under 18 – in inappropriate ways.
According to the criminal complaint, Marco Antonio Arevalo-Santiago, 27, allegedly engaged in inappropriate conduct on four occasions with an underage male employee. The victim claims that in his first encounter, Arevalo-Santiago rubbed his pants pocket for about 20 seconds while asking about the length of his “French fry.”
On the second occasion, the victim alleges that after changing into his work clothes in the restaurant’s bathroom, the suspect entered the room, approached the victim while pretending to be a zombie, then began to rub his stomach and hips.
In another incident, the suspect allegedly slapped the victim on his buttocks and then grabbed the zipper on the front of his pants. And during the last reported incident, Arevalo-Santiago allegedly called the victim into an office to scold him for drinking a beverage in front of customers. Once there, the victim alleges that Arevalo-Santiago began to touch him, and eventually felt his genitals through his pants.
Another employee claims Arevalo-Santiago brushed against his genital area at least twice a week, and once grabbed and squeezed his genitals.
Arevalo-Santiago, from Richfield, admitted to slapping the buttocks of the older employee, but told investigators that he only touched the underage employee’s thigh once while wiping away food. He described his behavior as “playing,” but admitted that he went too far.
He is charged with two counts of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct. He could face up to two years in prison.
