ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A woman who said she was raped by Darryl Patterson years ago talked to Channel 9’s Kathi Belich about the case for the first time on Monday.
Eyewitness News does not normally identify rape victims, but Jasmine Gurule said she wanted her face shown and wanted to talk to Eyewitness News in hopes of inspiring other possible victims to come forward.
Windermere police believe Patterson is a serial rapist who has targeted women since 2009. He’s been arrested and charged with raping a woman in Orange County while she was unconscious. Police believe that Patterson drugged multiple women, committed sex acts with them while they were incapacitated and videotaped the acts.
He is being held at the Orange County Jail without bail.
Timeline: Darryl Patterson alleged rapes investigation
There are at least 23 videos police confiscated from Patterson that, police said, show sex acts with different unconscious women.
Gurule told Eyewitness News once she learned he was in jail, she went to police to find out whether she was in any of his videos. She said she is in one of the videos.
“There’s no words to even describe how I feel or any of these women feel,” said Gurule.
Gurule said it was just as traumatic to see Patterson’s videos of other unconscious women being sexually assaulted. She said police asked her to look at the videos in hopes of identifying more victims.
“They want to make sure if I know these girls, if they’re alive,” Gurule said.
She told Eyewitness News she believes he took advantage of her vulnerability because of her troubled childhood, a past she told him all about.
Gurule said she met Patterson at a bar 10 years ago on her birthday at a bar. She said he was generous, kind and they became friends.
At that time, she said she lived the party lifestyle, and Patterson hosted a lot of parties at his house and on his boat.
“I didn’t wake up naked as such, but I woke up in bed and I didn't remember what happened. You know, but I thought, ‘Oh maybe I drank too many of his drinks,” Gurule said.
She said Patterson's video of her does not show his face.
“I want him to know that I know, because he was so close to me that I’d rather it would've been a stranger,” Gurule said.
Patterson has not been charged in connection with the woman who talked to Eyewitness News on Monday. Windermere police they’re still in the early stages of the investigation.
Contact Kathi Belich for more on this story.
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