FILE - Josh Roberts is seen entering the Penticton Courthouse in this 2015 photo. The Summerland man was sentenced to six months for sexual exploitation, but the victim is now taking him to civil court.

(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

A former employee of a Penticton pizza shop is taking her abuser and her former employer to court years after she was sexually exploited on the job.

The unnamed plaintiff filed the lawsuit on Nov. 21, eight years after Joshua Roberts was sentenced to spend six months in jail for exploiting his young employee.

She was just 15 when she was initially hired at Murray's Pizza in Penticton, while Roberts, the restaurant manager, was 34.

Her name was protected under a court-ordered publication ban during Roberts' criminal trial and remains anonymous in the newly-filed civil case.

She's taking both Roberts and the franchise owner of the pizza shop, Corob Enterprises Ltd to court for damages. Corob owned the Penticton location when it was still open and continues to own the Summerland location, where Roberts still works at the family business.

Roberts refused to comment when iNFOnews.ca reached him by phone at the pizzeria, adding that he does not own the franchise.

iNFOnews.ca emailed the restaurant, but has not received a response.

READ MORE: Vernon hockey coach appeals sexual assault conviction of former player

It's not clear when he began working for the family business again after his sentence. He was featured as the manager of the family-owned restaurant in this 2019 Black Press story.

The victim said she first met Roberts in June 2011 at an elementary school. She was picking up her brother while Roberts was picking up his own child, according to the notice of claim.

She came up in conversation later when her father was picking up an order from the Penticton restaurant. Roberts mentioned he thought she was "friendly" and her father told him she was suffering from depression.

Roberts offered her the job through her father. She took the job and Roberts was her direct supervisor, according to the claim.

During the following months, Roberts would schedule either the victim or "another young female employee" to close the Penticton restaurant with him, she said.

It was October when their sexual relations started. Roberts would send "flirty and sexually suggestive" text messages. He kissed her weeks later, which was "sudden and uninvited," according to the claim.

In January, he began to follow her into the changeroom at the restaurant and watch her. She tried to stop him when he first started, but he "minimized or ignored" her protests, she said.

READ MORE: Couple loses in court after losing Kal Lake dock access for rail trail

It became a pattern, until the end of that month when it escalated again. When the store was closed and no one else was around, he pulled her into the washroom, removed her clothes and began to have sex with her.

She again described it as "sudden and uninvited."

They continued to have sex over the next 10 months, usually at the restaurant. She would also send him nude images while she was still under 18, she said.

In the summer of 2012, there was a violent turn when he burned her with hot pizza pans around five or six times, according to her claim. She said he described it as a "joke" and would later slap her hands if he saw her picking at the scabs.

The burns left her with scars.

It's not clear when, but her father confided in Roberts while she was still working there, concerned she might have been sexually involved with someone who was "detrimental" to her mental health struggles, according to the claim.

When her father asked him to "keep an eye out" for her, he agreed he would, the claim reads.

Her father later became suspicious of Roberts, but he denied the accusation, according to the claim. He knew she struggled with depression and was the victim of a previous sexual assault.

She started to resist him more forcefully after she started a relationship with a younger coworker who was closer to her age. Roberts was "hostile" and retaliatory in response, eventually firing her without cause, according to the claim.

She didn't tell police about the exploitative relationship until 2014. She was 19 years old and had been living in Alberta for about a year.

After his arrest, Roberts told investigators he saw himself as a "good guy, helping her get rid of her demons."

The victim is now taking Roberts to civil court for damages, claiming he should have known he was in a position of power over her, especially as she was vulnerable.

She also claims she was wrongfully fired because he retaliated against her.

She hasn't specified a value for the damages, but she's also aiming to hold Corob responsible.

Corob, according to the claim, knew Roberts had a history of sexual harassment towards young female employees. It failed to take any proper action to stop it from continuing, she said.

The business failed to ensure her safety, according to the claim.

Neither Roberts nor Corob have responded in court to her claims.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

News from © iNFOnews, 2023