UPDATED: Former dealership manager charged with sexual assault is seeking lower bail
A Wichita Falls man accused of using his former position as general manager for an auto dealership to sexually assault female employees is seeking a lower bail, court records show.
Steve Duran, 40, was being held Friday in Wichita County Jail on $500,000 in total bonds, according to jail and court records.
Duran has been charged with four counts of sexual assault in connection with alleged incidents in 2021, according to court documents.
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Sexual assault is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Duran was terminated from Patterson Auto Group on Nov. 30 and has not been associated with the dealership group since then, according to a statement Friday from Patterson Auto Group.
Duran was arrested Thursday for the charges, according to Wichita Falls police.
Defense attorney Nick Olguin of Lubbock filed a writ of habeas corpus Friday in 78th District Court, asking a judge to lower Duran's bail.
Olguin contends Duran is being illegally held because the bonds of $125,000 for each charge are excessive, according to court records.
Olguin is requesting a hearing and for Duran's bail to be lowered to "a reasonable amount," court documents show.
On Dec. 9, police received reports of wrongdoing about Duran, according to allegations in affidavits for arrest warrants.
A detective found that Duran would identify vulnerable women at the dealership, compliment them and tell them he could help them do their job better, according to allegations in court records.
He would subsequently find an excuse to meet the female employees away from the car lot and sexually assault them, according to allegations in court documents.
Later, Duran would apologize to the women and blame the assaults on his being intoxicated, according to allegations in court documents.
The women didn't immediately report the assaults to the police out of fear of being fired, according to allegations in court filings.
In June, Duran insisted on meeting a female employee at her home to look at kittens she was finding homes for, and he sexually assaulted her at her apartment, according to allegations in court records.
He sexually assaulted the same woman that month in a car after asking her to meet him at a travel center with the dealership's gas card, according to court documents.
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In July, Duran had a female worker meet him and one of her customers at a local restaurant to close a sale, according to allegations in court documents.
She left because she felt Duran was being arrogant to the customer, but Duran followed her outside and sexually assaulted her, according to allegations in court documents.
In August, Duran told a female employee to meet him at a country club to review the sales process, according to allegations in court records.
Another male manager arrived to have a drink, and she tried to leave when the other manager left, but Duran pressured her to stay, according to allegations in court records.
He later sexually assaulted her in a car, according to allegations in court records.
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Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, politics and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Duran arrested on four sexual assault charges
