Staff Writer

gjohnson@theeasleyprogress.com

EASLEY - The owner of the Subway restaurant on Pendleton Street was charged with an attempted sex crime after a 16-year-old employee reported him to police.

The female teen told police that her 47-year-old boss, Mohammad Ahmad M. Atieh, put his hand down her shirt and bra, and would touch her "butt" and "private part."

Mohammad Ahmad M. Atieh, 47, of 313 Parkway Drive, Easley, is charged with attempting to commit criminal sexual conduct in the second degree, according Maj. Tim Tollison.

According to the report, the victim had worked at the Subway for only a week and a half but reported several incidents of "forcible fondling ... during her employment," the report said.

She also said he would "grab her hips and pull them against his body (and) he would massage her legs while she was working the drive-thru and follow her into the cooler and touch her to avoid being seen," the report said.

While no specific date was used, the victim described the incidents as "ongoing ... that escalated over the week," the report said.

The victim told police that a previous employee of the restaurant had a similar experience and quit her job as a result, the report said.

That other potential victim has been asked to contact Easley police to give a statement, the report said.

The officer noted in the report that he would seek the charge based on the "state occurrence of sexual battery, the age of the victim (14-16 years), the relationship of the offender to the victim being as one of authority over the victim and difference in age."

Atieh was arrested Saturday and posted a $25,000 cash bond the same day, Tollison said.