Adelaide cafe boss jailed for sex offences

Miguel Dantas De Sa was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and with communicating with a child to procure sex in relation to a 16-year-old waitress who worked in his business.

De Sa, 25, came to Australia with his family when he was 19 and his jail term will breach the conditions of their temporary visa, leaving him and his parents liable to deportation.

But in sentencing him on Thursday, District Court Judge Liesl Chapman said the only appropriate sentence was a term of imprisonment as she jailed him for two years and six months with a non-parole period of 13 months.

The incidents occurred in 2016 and involved De Sa offering to pay the girl $200 for sex.

He told her if she accepted his offer, he would give her more work shifts.

While in a storeroom at the cafe, he also asked her to pull down her underwear so he could see her backside and asked her to bend over.

Judge Chapman said the incidents left the girl feeling degraded and confused and it was only now she understood the full impact on her life.

The judge said De Sa did not admit his offending and showed no signs of contrition or remorse.

But she said she had no problem accepting the victim's evidence and rejecting his.

"A strong message must be sent to the community that behaviour like this will be met with strong penalties to deter other like-minded employers from sexually exploiting young people," Judge Chapman said.

"That strong message also needs to be sent to you. Your offences were serious You sexually exploited the imbalance of power between yourself and your employee who was only 16.

"You were her boss and in your 20s."

Judge Chapman said the confusion the victim felt at the time was completely understandable,

But she did the brave and right thing to tell her mother and then go to the police.

Australian Associated Press