Police: Popeye's manager fondled teen workers

BENSALEM, Pa. - May 24, 2011

Police say for a year, 50-year-old Eduardo Tomasek preyed on one young female employee after another.

A total of seven 15 to 16-year-old girls say the man who hired them, assaulted and fondled them several times while they were working.

"I see this man every day, I come in here quite often; I'm just dumbfounded," customer Sharon Kelley said.

One teenager came forward and police say a two month investigation led to two others.

On Tuesday, four more girls spoke up saying the manager would get them into a corner or backroom to grope them.

"This was a 50-year-old man bullying or threatening these young girls; he would buy them presents, promise them money and they wouldn't accept it, but he threatened to fire them," Bensalem Township Public Safety Director Fred Harran said.

Police say Tomasek, a former Florida resident, was found on the Megan's Law registry.

After one simple and quick search, Action News found Tomasek is a convicted sex offender from Florida where he's accused of attacking another young girl in the 90's.

He moved to Bucks County a year ago and was hired by the Popeye's, which is independently owned.

"Someone didn't do their job very well, obviously," Kelley said.

The manager of the restaurant ran out of the store twice concerned about where our crew was standing and each time Action News tried to get answers.

"Do you do background checks here on managers?" Action News asked the manager. He had no comment.

It is not clear if Tomasek has been fired from the restaurant because tbe manager refused to comment.

"Anybody who is working around kids, I think, should have a background check," Harran said.

A Popeye's corporate spokeswoman says the company doesn't have control over the day to day operations at this particular restaurant since it is independently owned.

But it has asked the owner to investigate.

Tomasek, meanwhile, is in the Bucks County jail.

He has has been charged with indecent assault, unlawful contact with minors and related offenses.

His $250,000 bail is expected to go once additional charges have been filed.

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