MN Restaurant Server Sentenced For Groping 2 Teen Girls During Photo

DAKOTA COUNTY, MN — A 37-year-old Hastings man who groped two teenage girls while working as their server at a Burnsville restaurant has been sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years of probation, court records show.

Donnell Ishmel Singleton was convicted on two gross misdemeanor counts of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct for the Sept. 27, 2025, incident. Dakota County District Judge Kelly Staples sentenced him Monday.

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The case went to trial twice. Singleton pleaded not guilty in November 2025, and his first jury trial in January ended in a mistrial, according to court records. He was convicted on both counts after a second trial in February.

On each count, Staples sentenced Singleton to 364 days in the Dakota County Jail, with all of that time stayed for three years, plus 60 days to serve, according to the sentencing order. The sentences run concurrently, and he received credit for four days already served.

As conditions of his probation, Singleton must complete a sex offender program and psychiatric and chemical dependency evaluations, follow any treatment recommendations, and attend individual therapy.

He is barred from contacting the victims and from having contact with minor girls outside his family without approval from his probation agent. He must also submit to polygraph exams as directed.

The judge reserved the question of restitution for 60 days, the order shows.

According to the criminal complaint, Burnsville police were called to the restaurant on the night of the incident and met with the girls, ages 17 and 16, outside a nearby store. The complaint does not name the restaurant.

The 17-year-old told police Singleton, their server, had been very friendly all night. When the group decided to take pictures at the end of the evening, Singleton asked to be in one, and another server took the photo.

Singleton stood between the two girls. The 17-year-old told police she felt a hand move down her back and grab her buttocks. She first thought it was her friend, but the 16-year-old said it wasn't and told her Singleton had done the same thing to her, the complaint says.

The 17-year-old told officers she froze, and she said he was squeezing "like there's no tomorrow." The 16-year-old said Singleton slid his hand from the small of her back to her buttocks during the photo, moved it around and squeezed. She also said she froze and didn't know what to do.

Officers arrested Singleton at the restaurant. In a statement to police, he denied touching the girls in a sexual manner and said he bumped into them when he opened a door while they were taking the picture, according to the complaint.