UPDATE: Former Patterson GM arrested for alleged sexual assaults of employees
Patterson Auto Group released a statement.
WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - It was confirmed Friday that Steve Duran, arrested Jan. 27 for sexually assaulting four employees, was previously employed by Patterson Auto Group.
Patterson Auto Group released the following statement after KAUZ confirmed with an employee that Duran had been employed as the General Manager of Patterson’s Honda dealership until November:
“To clarify to all media, Steve Duran was terminated from Patterson Auto Group on November 30, 2021 and has not been associated with the dealership group since that date.
Patterson Auto Group will have no further statement for any of the press.”
Steve Duran was arrested on Jan. 27 for four counts of sexual assault. Wichita Falls Police say that detectives received several police reports on Dec. 9 of last year stating that Duran was using his position to sexually assault female employees. Duran was no longer employed by the dealership as of January 2022.
The reports said Duran would identify vulnerable women and start complimenting them, saying he could tell them how to do their jobs better and making excuses to meet outside of work. Duran would then sexually assault the employees, and later apologize and blame his behavior on drunkenness, according to an arrest affidavit.
In the reports, victims said they did not immediately report the assaults out of fear of being fired and losing their income. A witness described one encounter where the victim looked uncomfortable as Duran touched her back, saying it stood out to them because they knew Duran was married.
All of the victims were coerced into meeting Duran outside of the business property in the encounters mentioned in the affidavits. In three of the four meetings, other people were present and Duran found reasons for the victim to remain with him until those people had left; in the fourth meeting, the victim was called to meet Durant for a work-related issue. Two of the other cases also had work-related reasons for the victim to be present.
Duran remains in Wichita County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
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