FLORENCE — New documents obtained by News 5 allege that former Florence city manager, 54-year-old Michael Patterson, sexually harassed multiple women during his time employed with the city.
City Council voted to terminate Patterson back on August 31 during a Special Meeting.
The affidavit revealed that the reason for the termination was due to an allegation that Patterson had sent a sexually inappropriate text message to a subordinate employee.
According to the meeting's record, all of the present six councilors and Mayor Fulton voted in favor of ousting Patterson. The record also said that Patterson would not be allowed onto any city property.
An arrest warrant was issued on Nov. 3, and Patterson was later arrested on Nov. 15 at Denver International Airport.
The warrant lists the following charges which all happened on Aug. 30 2021, the day before Patterson was terminated from his position.
- Two counts of Stalking-emotional Distress (Class 5 Felony)
- Sexual Contact - no consent (Class 1 Misdemeanor)
- Providing alcohol to a minor (Class 1 Misdemeanor)
According to the affidavit, investigators interviewed multiple women who either reported similar experiences of inappropriate behavior by Patterson or could corroborate others' accounts. The affidavit also identifies three women as "victims," of unlawful behavior.
In the affidavit, one of the victims said she met Patterson at the restaurant she worked at, where he would make inappropriate comments. She went on to say he would later start messaging her on Facebook. After she left her restaurant job, Patterson offered her a job working for the city. Before she started working for the city she claims Patterson invited her over to his house since he needed help with some housework while he was going through a divorce. She said that she and Patterson engaged in consensual intercourse, but that afterward, she expressed to him she was not interested in anything further.
However, she claims that despite this, he would continue to pressure her to have sex, would send her explicit videos of himself, and would even drive by her house. She claims that Patterson would belittle her when she rejected him, and all of this eventually led to her quitting her job.
A second victim claimed that Patterson had sent inappropriate texts to her talking about how he wanted to kiss her and have her sleep with him and his new wife. She claims when she rejected him, he started "getting irritated" over "little" things at work.
A third victim claimed that while Patterson never "did" anything to her, he gave her a bottle of wine without explanation. She went on to claim that he gave her more wine bottles even though he knew she was 20 years old, which meant she was underage.
Patterson is currently being held in Denver Co. at the Denver Downtown Detention Center.
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