Man accused of sexual battery at South Bend business

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. – A man was arrested for sexual battery for incidents that allegedly occurred at a South Bend business over the course of a few months, according to the probable cause affidavit. 

On June 17, 2021, the South Bend Police Department was notified of an allegation of battery that was reported at a business on Western Avenue.

A South Bend police detective interviewed the victim, who said that his co-worker, Richard Kent Krawczyk, Jr., would repeatedly touch the victim inappropriately during break periods, despite the victim telling him to stop, reports said.

The victim said this happened almost every day and had started sometime in March 2021.

The victim said Krawczyk would also try to get the victim to come into the bathroom with him and would try to corner the victim when the victim was already in the bathroom, according to reports.

In one incident, the victim said Krawczyk touched him inappropriately while cornering him in the bathroom, according to court documents.

A St. Joseph County Special Victims Unit (SVU) detective, who also met with the victim, met with the victim’s work supervisor and the business’s vice president.

The supervisor said she discovered footage of Krawczyk being inappropriate with the victim while she was reviewing security video footage from inside the business for an unrelated matter, reports said.

She told the vice president what she found.

The vice president said he reviewed security video from every day the victim and Krawczyk worked between May 27 and June 14 and discovered that, on nearly every one of those days, there was footage of Krawczyk being or trying to be inappropriate with the victim during breaks, according to reports.

The work supervisor said there were a couple times that the victim seemed to be moving away from Krawczyk.

A detective noted that, at least once on video, Krawczyk could be seen touching the victim inappropriately, reports said.

A detective met with two other employees who both said Krawczyk and the victim “horseplayed” during breaks.

One of the employees said the way Krawczyk “horseplayed” with the victim was inappropriate in general, according to reports.

Neither employee said they had seen Krawczyk touch the victim inappropriately, reports said.

The detective interviewed Krawczyk, who said he “messed with” the victim during breaks in a way that was playful and involved kicking and punching but Krawczyk denied touching the victim inappropriately, according to court documents.

Krawczyk also denied that the victim told him to stop and denied touching the victim inappropriately in the bathroom, according to reports.

Krawczyk is facing a sexual battery charge.

He was arrested on Wednesday and is being held at the St. Joseph County Jail without bond.