Ex-manager charged with taping Hooters job applicants changing

<p>A 57-count criminal complaint was filed Tuesday against the former general manager of a new Hooters restaurant for allegedly secretly taping 14 applicants as they changed into waitress uniforms during job interviews.</p><p>Juan Martin Aponte, 32, faces up to 19 years in state prison if convicted of the 25 felonies and 32 misdemeanors, said Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Gary Hearnsberger.</p><p>Aponte was arrested Friday and held on $500,000 bail. His arraignment scheduled for Tuesday was postponed until May 27 at the request of his attorney.</p><p>The digital taping allegedly occurred between November and February in a trailer outside a West Covina restaurant building that is being renovated to become a new Hooters. The chain is based in Atlanta.</p><p>Felony charges were possible because four of the applicants were under age 18 at the time and because the digital recording also contained audio, Hearnsberger said.</p><p>The felonies include eight counts of using a minor for a sex act and 17 counts of eavesdropping.</p><p>Prosecutors also charged Aponte with 31 counts of misdemeanor invasion of privacy and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.</p><p>Police began investigating in February when a young woman reported that she was asked to try on a Hooters uniform during a job interview and she suspected a digital camera in the dressing room was on.</p><p>Search warrants were served at the trailer and at Aponte's home in Monrovia. Hearnsberger said about 180 digital recordings were seized.</p><p>Hearnsberger noted in the announcement of charges that it is not the policy of the restaurant to ask job applicants to try on the uniforms.</p><p>The investigation prompted five women to sue Hooters of America in March on grounds the company was negligent in its supervision of the restaurant manager.</p><p>The company has said it is cooperating with police and has characterized the allegations as "one person acting outside the scope of company policy."</p>