A sous chef accused of fondling a co-worker at an Ardsley restaurant has been found not guilty of criminal charges.
The jury in Westchester County Court took just a few hours Thursday, Sept. 4, to acquit the defendant of a felony - first-degree sexual abuse - and misdemeanor charges of third-degree sexual abuse, forcible touching and second-degree unlawful imprisonment.
The woman was working as a dishwasher and salad prepper at Stagioni on Bridge Street when she claimed that on May 11, 2025, the sous chef pressed up against her from behind, fondled her breasts and groped her genitals as the two were alone in a walk-in cooler in the basement.
She also claimed he had rubbed up against her from behind on a previous occasion at the restaurant.
The woman
had arrived from Paraguay two months earlier on a tourist visa and was living with her sister.
The defense maintained she made up the physical contact to aid in obtaining a UVisa, available to victims of sexual assault and certain other crimes if they have assisted in investigations and prosecutions.
The defendant had faced up to seven years in prison if convicted of the felony.
He did not testify. The only witness called by the defense was an immigration lawyer who the woman went to for help obtaining a UVisa. He testified that the woman claimed the abuse occurred under her clothes, not over them as she told police and claimed on the witness stand.
Defense lawyer Jeffrey Chartier said Ardsley police did not do a thorough investigation. He was the one who obtained video from the restaurant. It did not show inside the cooler but the two employees could be seen walking away from the cooler after the woman claimed the abuse occurred.
He argued that it seemed to show her smiling and her demeanor did not appear to be that of someone who had just been groped.
But Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lopez reminded jurors in her summation that the woman had immediately contacted her sister to tell her what had happened. And she said the woman denied telling the immigration lawyer what he claimed.
She said there was a clear power imbalance between the sous chef and the woman and that he had been making her uncomfortable since she started working there, asking her to friend him on Facebook, telling her she smelled nice.
Lopez criticized the defense for offering "a misplaced, antiquated stereotype" of what a sex victim should look like or how they should act. She argued that the woman's account over four days on the witness stand had been credible and that the defense had offered only "rank speculation."
"A smile is evidence of nothing," Lopez told the jury.
Chartier said no one should be able to obtain immigration benefits by making false accusations.
"I commend the jury for not being swayed by the #MeToo movement and saw the evidence for what it was," he said over the weekend. "It's a shame my client had to wait so long for justice to be served."
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Ardsley restaurant employee accused of sexually abusing colleague acquitted
