An Arizona congressional candidate says she was raped while campaigning in a Sun City car park, alleging that she was attacked as she tried to repair a damaged campaign sign.
Bernadette Greene-Placentia, the Democratic candidate for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, said the incident happened at about 2am on August 14 in the retirement community north-west of Phoenix.
She told the Phoenix New Times that she was struck on the head and briefly lost consciousness. When she came round, she alleges, a man was on top of her and sexually assaulting her.
Ms Greene-Placentia said she felt a sharp pain below her waist and saw the man pulling up his penis. She alleges he called her a “bitch” and told her she was “not a very good f***”.
She said a second man then approached and attempted to push her legs further apart. According to her account, she began kicking at him, after which he said: “Not even worth it.”
The men allegedly left her face down in the car park. Ms Greene-Placentia said she managed to drive herself home but remembers very little of what happened afterwards.
“It’s just these little tiny flashes of things that I do remember,” she said. “As much as I don’t want to remember, I’ve tried very, very hard to remember more stuff. But that’s where I’m at.”
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Ms Greene-Placentia filed a report on August 31 and said the investigation remains ongoing.
Ms Greene-Placentia said she initially felt embarrassed and wanted to forget the alleged assault. She decided to speak publicly because her campaign focuses on supporting survivors of sexual assault.
