Manager of Bethel Park Wendy's accused of having sexual contact with underage employee
The manager of the Wendy's at the Bethel Park Shopping Center was sexually abusing a teenager by soliciting and distributing pornography, according to court records.
Bethel Park police charged Stephen Katz with multiple felonies and misdemeanors related to having sexual contact with a minor. Katz is currently out of jail on a $100,000 unsecured bail.
As the 29-year-old Katz returned to his apartment Friday afternoon, he didn't respond to KDKA's questions and walked on.
The criminal complaint said police got a tip on May 30 about Katz texting and Snapchatting with a 17-year-old girl, who was his employee at the Wendy's on Library Road. The teen was one of his subordinates, authorities said.
According to the document, the teen told police it began on May 15 with a text from an unknown number, which she believed belonged to a boy she goes to school with.
She shared with detectives that the messages became sexual when she got one reading, "You sell any content by chance? Or you wanna come meet up with me once, you'd make a decent bit if you did and you'd have fun doing it."
Investigators said the messages escalated after that, with Katz asking her to perform intercourse and requesting her to send sexually explicit pictures and videos. According to the complaint, she followed suit until Katz allegedly sent a photo of his face, saying, "It's your boss."
She told police she continued to contact him, fearing she'd get fired. Eventually, police seized Katz's phone through a warrant.
In interviewing Katz, police said he admitted to the acts and claimed to have a drug addiction.
Recent high school graduate Kristen Weiss and Bev Kosmach, a parent of boys who lives in South Park, just urge teens to be vigilant.
"I think that's kind of scary," Weiss said. "If you are meeting somebody online, like you need to make sure you actually know who it is."
"I try to make them aware of what's out there, and to be cognizant and let us know if they hear something," Kosmach said.
Katz will be back in court on June 26 for his preliminary hearing. KDKA reached out to Delight Restaurant Group, which runs the Bethel Park Wendy's, for comment but did not hear back as of Friday evening.
