Sexual assault charges dating back to 2022 against a former Wichita Falls car dealer were dismissed this week, court records show.
Steve Duran, 43, had faced allegations of using his position as a boss at an auto dealership to sexually assault female employees, court documents show. Duran was charged with four counts of sexual assault, a second degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
According to court records, on Wednesday, Wichita County District Attorney John Gillespie requested the charges against Duran be dismissed, citing a grand jury no-bill as the reason.
Wichita County Justice of the Peace Judy Baker ordered that the charges be dropped the same day, according to the documents.
Duran, formerly general manager of Patterson Auto Group, was arrested Jan. 27, 2022, in connection with allegations reported to police in December 2021 and booked into Wichita County Jail, according to court and jail records.
Court affidavits filed in the case accused him of sexually assaulting female employees in June, July and August of 2021. Investigators alleged they uncovered Duran’s pattern of identifying vulnerable women at the dealership to assault and that the case involved four victims.
Duran was released from jail on Jan. 29, 2022, on $500,000 in total bonds, according to jail and court records.
He was fired from his position on Nov. 30, 2022, according to a statement from Patterson Auto Group at the time.
In response to queries about the case, Gillespie said on June 6 that the sexual assault cases were “being actively worked.”
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: He was accused of sexually assaulting four women in Wichita Falls. The charges are dropped
Reporting by Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
