'Need to put a stop to this': Perry restaurant owner faces felony charges for allegedly touching female employees inappropriately
A downtown Perry restaurant owner now faces four felony charges for allegedly sexually harassing and assaulting female employees.
PERRY, Okla. (KFOR) - A downtown Perry restaurant owner now faces four felony charges for allegedly sexually harassing and assaulting female employees.
Charles Brzezinski Jr. was booked into the Noble County Jail on three counts of sexual battery and one county of lewd molestation.
Court records show three adults and a minor were interviewed by Perry Police between December 2022 and January 2023.
Brzezinski is accused of dry humping one victim in the restaurant's walk-in cooler. He is also alleged to have told victims about wanting to "make out" and making sexual comments towards employees.
The victims also claim he would grab various body parts including breasts and more private areas.
One of the victims is said to have only been 15 years old at the time.
"JV1 told me that she finally decided to quit when Brzezinski started asking her about her upcoming birthday. She told me that he told her that she was turning 16 years old and that is the legal age of consent. She told me that comment made her really uncomfortable so she talked to her mom and decided to turn in her two week notice," a probable cause affidavit states.
The minor also told police Brzezinski would tell her she had often had something on her butt and then he would pinch it or rub it.
"JV1 told me that Brzezinski would make sexual comments to her every time she worked," records reveal.
A video was submitted into evidence, according to court documents.
The video allegedly shows Brzezinski being confronted inside Charlie B's for "inappropriately" touching waitresses.
He can be heard on the video denying the claims, but acknowledging that he "may have accidentally touched someone while passing by them in tight quarters," an affidavit reads.
When Brzezinski was brought in for questioning, reports show a Perry PD Detective spoke with him about being accused of touching a female employee inappropriately. He denied ever being accused then appeared to have switched his story once the Detective said he had him on video being accused.
"During the interview, Brzezinski would take jabs at the victims making the allegations and demeaning things about them or talk about how they were not intelligent and were after his money. He also accused one of them of being a thief," the probable cause affidavit states.
Jon Dunivan is a Perry attorney representing the four victims in this case.
He said the case was first brought to his attention in December 2022.
"They were younger and they were really intimidated and had some hesitancy about making accusations. I encouraged them and instructed them to be brave, stick together, get some corroborating evidence, some witnesses, and then take their information to the District Attorney or police department and ask for an investigation," explained Dunivan.
Dunivan told News 4 the victims have been feeling a mix of emotions the last several months.
"In one sense, they're afraid. I mean, the perpetrator is a big guy. He's probably 275 pounds, 6'2. And I've met him. He has an intimidating personality and he's talked about his abilities and martial arts, for example, so they're scared physically. They're scared emotionally. They're concerned about their reputations because as most people are aware, oftentimes the victim feels somewhat responsible, which is is wrong and young women should not feel that way. Then there's also like some relief that they've been able to bring things out in the public. I think maybe just a little bit of pride that they're standing up not just for themselves, but for women in this town, county, state and the world," said Dunivan.
Brzezinski had bonded out of jail the same day he was booked.
News 4 spoke with him over the phone Friday morning.
He said his booking was a walk through in which it only lasted 20 to 30 minutes before he was released.
"They didn't arrest me. I went to walk through. Okay. So there is a big difference there. I went in because, you know, a guilty person runs or evades. I didn't. I went in, I got my ducks in a row," he said.
Brzezinski stakes his innocence and said everything about this case is a lie.
"I'm going to be very, very brief with you as all these allegations are completely false. And if you research the people that are accusing me of this, you'll see there's a history," stated Brzezinski. "I have an attorney and we're going to fight tooth and nail because these are false allegations. It's retaliation is what this is about."
Brzezinski told News 4 if a story is run about him then one of the victim's history should come to light as well.
He provided one of the victim's names and suggested digging through her past.
"I think it'll really open your eyes. I really don't want to say too much because I don't want to jeopardize anything," he said. "I'm going to be exonerated of this."
He believes because he moved to Perry from California, he is being targeted.
"This is just retaliation from a small town of just people that don't have anything else better to do. You know, I'm new here and they're just trying to destroy me and I was told that they were going to do that when I first opened [Charlie B's]," explained Brzezinski.
Dunivan told KFOR he and the victims are now going to wait and see how Brzezinski's criminal charges pan out.
"I want to remind everyone that that someone charged is innocent until proven guilty," said Dunivan.
He suspects there may be more victims of Brzezinski's. He encourages those who may know something to come forward.
Dunivan shared with News 4 a case from 2012 involving Brzezinski where a domestic violence restraining order against Brzezinski.
"Be brave. Talk to your parents. Talk to your pastors. Talk to your coaches. Talk to someone who you can trust if you feel uncomfortable. And remember, you have the law on your side and you have people who will stand up and defend you from legislators, the District Attorneys to the Judges and and victims advocates," added Dunivan. "We need to put a stop to this, not just in Noble County, but around the world."
Brzezinski is set to appear in Noble County court on June 1 at 10:30 a.m.