A rape victim who met the man who attacked her on the ChristianMingle website is filing a lawsuit against him, his mother, and his family after they contacted her on Facebook and demanded she recant, NBC 7 reports.
Sean Patrick Banks, a former lieutenant in the United States Navy, was convicted of two counts of forced penetration, one count of forcible rape, and one count of rape of an intoxicated woman in January.
During the sentencing phase of his trial, Banks said he would waive his right to appeal if the women whose testimony led to his conviction would submit to a polygraph test.
Gloria Allred, the attorney for one of his victims, balked at the idea, telling Reuters that "[t]o now suggest that the victims should take a polygraph test after they endured cross examination and the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that Banks was guilty is insulting to the jury and the victims."
One of his victims, Katie Kuhlman, did submit to a test -- and she passed.
"I was more interested in taking it because of the comment he made about dropping his appeal if I would pass a lie detector test," she said. "I passed my test. I don’t know if he’s going to drop his appeal."
That did not, however, stop Banks' family from contacting her. His mother, Cheryl, sent Kuhlman's brother a message on Facebook that read, "[w]e pray every day that Katie will feel convicted by the Holy Spirit and tell the truth about what happened. I’m sorry to say, she has not."
Her lawyer, Dan Gilleon, told NBC 7 that "it was outrageous and despicable the way she reached out to a victim of rape, her family and said 'Your sister is lying.'"
She is seeking damages for rape, false imprisonment, hate violence and -- because of the Facebook exchange -- defamation.
Watch a report on the lawsuit via NBC 7 San Diego below.
