Former Candidate Accused Of Sex Act Sues Accuser

MIAMI BEACH, FL — A former Miami Beach commission candidate accused by an elected official of exposing himself to her in the final days before the November election, filed a lawsuit Thursday against his accuser. Rafael A. Velasquez claims that Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez "schemed to maliciously and intentionally defame his name in order to gain sympathetic publicity." Gonzalez is running for the Congressional seat held by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is retiring at the end of her term.

"Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez’ cheap political ploy did not only cause me and my family to suffer severe damages to our marriage and family life — and experience the pain of public ridicule, loss of community standing and reputation, friends, clients and business opportunities — but also is a slap in the face to every true victim of sexual assault," Velasquez charged in announcing the lawsuit. "Therefore, I will not rest until she is held accountable for her vile actions."

Rosen Gonzalez' attorney, Kent Harrison Robbins, told Patch the lawsuit is nothing more than a bullying tactic to punish his client for going public with the incident.

"This lawsuit is exactly the reason why women who suffer from sexual harassment and outrageous behavior, as allegedly exhibited by Velasquez, do not come forward and make complaints," Robbins insisted in an interview.

Velasquez, who appeared headed for victory at one time, is seeking in excess of $5 million in damages from the mother of three.

Rosen Gonzalez told Patch previously that she had been "embarrassed" to go public with her allegation until it looked as though Velasquez was likely to win a seat on the commission.

"After it happened, I swept it under the rug and continued to campaign for him," Rosen Gonzalez said ahead of the November election. "I think I was ashamed and by ignoring it, and pretending that it didn't happen, would make it go away."

The Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office later decided not to pursue charges against Velasquez or Rosen-Gonzalez based on claims by Velasquez that the commissioner fabricated her story to win support from the #MeToo movement.

In a memo closing out the criminal inquiry against Velasquez, prosecutors pointed to a lack of evidence in the case and the fact that Rosen Gonzalez did not immediately come forward after the alleged incident. There were no other witnesses in the case.

A second woman, identified as Frances Alban of Alban Communications told Local 10 News at the time that Velasquz grabbed her backside while taking a photograph with her in June and then sent suggestive text messages, something that he later apologized for even though he said that he did not intentionally touch the woman inappropriately.

Rosen Gonzalez described her decision to come forward at the time as one of the most difficult she had ever had to make.

"Using bullying tactics such as filing lawsuits is just one more way that harassers continue their abusive behavior against victims," added Rosen Gonzalez' attorney.

Rafael A. Velasquez photo used with permission of Velasquez.