Federal security officer handcuffed and raped nurse at Denver Mint, lawsuit says: ‘It was cruel’

An armed, uniformed security guard at the U.S. Mint in Denver is accused of tying up and raping a woman two years ago after using the building’s surveillance cameras to track her whereabouts, according to a lawsuit filed this week in federal court. It’s not the first time the officer has been accused of inappropriate behavior.

According to the lawsuit, Ryan Gonzalez, a Treasury Department security guard, used the Mint’s surveillance cameras to track down the whereabouts of a nurse working at the facility. He allegedly approached her, handcuffed her and raped her.

CBS News Colorado does not identify alleged victims of rape or sexual abuse.

The nurse was working as a civilian contract employee at the time of the alleged rape in 2022. Since then, she says, she has suffered “severe emotional trauma to the point of illness, including but not limited to disorientation, gastrointestinal distress, vomiting, nausea, acute shock and disbelief, depression, PTSD.”

It was “beyond all bounds of decency,” her lawyers say. “It was horrific.”

The examination room where the rape allegedly took place was normally clean, but afterwards it “looked like a tornado had passed through it,” court documents say.

Court documents show the nurse was subsequently questioned by three Treasury Police supervisors, all of whom were men, despite her request for a female supervisor to be present. She told an investigator hired by her lawyers that she “felt harassed and attacked.”

As part of her attorneys’ investigation, several of the nurse’s colleagues were interviewed, all of whom told investigators that Gonzalez observed the nurse on the Mint’s security cameras, made inappropriate advances to her, and followed her to her car several times between August and November 2022.

Gonzalez was previously accused of behaving inappropriately toward a high school student who was interning at the Mint. According to court documents, the Treasury Department paid the unnamed girl $100,000 to settle a complaint about the alleged behavior.

The plaintiff in this latest case is suing Gonzalez and the U.S. government for personal injury, negligence and abuse of rights, seeking $2.5 million, additional damages and a jury trial.

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to several questions or a request for comment for this article.

CBS News Colorado is currently attempting to obtain a statement from Gonzalez, but has so far been unsuccessful.