13 Investigates: Lawsuit accuses disgraced Florence City Manager of rape
FLORENCE, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Florence woman has filed a new lawsuit accusing former Florence City Manager Mike Patterson of rape.
The lawsuit, filed on April 8, alleges Patterson raped a Florence woman at his home in August 2020.
The state lawsuit says Patterson invited her to his home to discuss a county project.
"Mr. Patterson, the complaint alleges, first had her consume alcohol and then quite literally raped her," Attorney Andrew Swan told 13 Investigates.
Court records accuse Patterson of removing her leggings and raping her. The court records say "while crying, [the victim] repeatedly begged Defendant to stop raping her. He refused."
"She felt a combination of anger, of fear that he would retaliate against her, of disgust, of shame," Swan said. "The distress that she has been feeling for the last twenty or so months is palpable."
The lawsuit says shortly after the alleged rape, the alleged victim received a text message from Patterson saying he knew "how she liked to be held in bed."
According to the suit, the alleged victim responded by telling him to stop contacting her. She then blocked his phone number and social media pages.
13 Investigates has learned the woman recently reported the allegations to the 4th Judicial Special Prosecutor trying the current criminal case against Patterson.
At this time, Patterson has not been criminally charged with rape.
However, he is currently facing charges of stalking, sexual contact no consent, and providing alcohol to a minor. Those current charges are related to his behavior with women he supervised at Florence City Hall.
13 Investigates attempted to get answers from Patterson on his current charges while he was at the Fremont County Courthouse. We asked him to share his side of the story with 13 Investigates.
"You'll print the same lies you have printed all along," Patterson responded.
He then walked down the stairs and refused to answer our questions.
13 Investigates reached out to Patterson's civil attorney for comment on this new lawsuit. At the time of this publication, we have not heard back.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story identified the victim after she and her attorney gave us permission to use her name. After the story aired, the victim decided she did not want to be identified and we honored her request. Normally, KRDO does not identify rape victims to protect their identity.
