Victim Sues Christian Mingle Rapist, His Mother

Katie Kuhlman is seeking damages from convicted rapist Sean Banks and his mother

A rape victim, who met her attacker on a Christian dating website, is now filing a lawsuit against him. And in a twist, the attacker’s mother is also named in the suit for a social media message she allegedly sent to the victim’s brother.

Sean Patrick Banks was convicted of raping two women and sentenced to 37 years to life in prison last November.

One of the victims, Katie Kuhlman, 24, told NBC 7 her suit is all about holding a now convicted rapist accountable.

“I truthfully believe in accountability for your actions,” said Kuhlman.

The complaint, filed in Superior Court on Jan. 30, is seeking damages for rape, false imprisonment, hate violence and defamation.

The defamation stems from a Facebook post allegedly sent weeks before his sentencing by Banks’ mother to Kuhlman’s brother. It said, in part, that Kuhlman was sending an innocent man to prison.

“We 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,” the message says, according to the complaint.

“It was outrageous and despicable the way she reached out to a victim of rape, her family and said ‘Your sister is lying,’” said attorney Dan Gilleon.

“I do think that his mom sending a message to my family calling me a liar is not okay,” said Kuhlman. “I did exactly what I was supposed to do as a witness."

In a brazen statement during the sentencing hearing, Banks told the judge he would drop his appeal if Kuhlman submitted to a lie detector test. Last December, she did take the test, and Gilleon produced paper work that showed Kuhlman 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,” said Kuhlman. “I passed my test. I don’t know if he’s going to drop his appeal.

An after-hours call to Bank’s trial attorney had yet to be answered. Banks’ mother was also not reachable for comment.

Meanwhile, Kuhlman says she was "OK" after the traumatic attack. She says she’s comforted by other victims who have thanked her for standing up to her attacker.

“It makes me feel empowered and so good,” said Kuhlman. “I also feel like he can’t do this to anyone else, like I’ve protected so many women from being a potential victim of him and that helps me sleep at night. I feel really good about that.”

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