Former hotel GM accused of sexual assault

Less than a year after taking a local hotel with a difficult past celebrated a new chapter, its first general manager resigned amid sexual assault accusations.

James David Ramon, 41, made his first appearance July 20 in Steele County District Court, where he faces one count of gross misdemeanor fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was conditionally released without bail and is due back in court Oct. 15 for a settlement conference.

The investigation began in May, when the alleged victim contacted Owatonna police and said Ramon, her supervisor at the hotel, had made nonconsensual sexual contact with her multiple times. She started employment April 21.

On May 4, the woman said Ramon offered to show her the different hotel rooms during an overnight shift; he offered to massage her head – then moved to her neck and shoulders and eventually put a finger under her bra strap, the complaint says. He then picked up her leg and began massaging her calf, moved up to her thigh and then to her buttocks, the complaint continues.

She said she was “nervous and uncomfortable,” and did not know how to handle the situation.

The victim said she mentioned her boyfriend and that they were planning a wedding, but claimed Ramon put his hand between her legs and touched her genital area over her clothing, court documents say.

The woman said she wanted to go back downstairs; en route, they entered a different room where Ramon allegedly asked her to “pat his head,” then began to hug her “with enough pressure she could not pull his hand away.”

According to the criminal complaint, the victim was able to pull his hand off, but he moved it under her shirt to her bra. The woman pulled Ramon’s hand out, told him she was done with this, and it “was not who she was as a person,” but he put his hand on her breast and squeezed, the complaint says.

The woman said Ramon continued talking to her and asked for another 5 to 10 minutes, but she refused, saying her coworker would wonder where they were.

When she returned to the hotel office, she told the coworker she needed to tell him something; he warned her not to talk about it there in case Ramon returned. The woman told police the coworker said he “knew something was wrong because she was completely different from before going upstairs” with Ramon.

After work that morning, the woman’s mother told her to contact corporate, who reportedly told the woman she needed to go to police first – which she did.

When an officer spoke to Ramon later that morning, he said the woman had asked to see some hotel rooms, but denied any massages or physical contact “other than possibly bumping into (the victim) while walking in the hallway,” court documents say.

Ramon reportedly said the woman seemed “super flirty” with the other male employee and made off-putting comments, claiming he talked to other employees about it and even asked another manager to stay one night “to ensure everything was fine.”

He told the officer he needed to find out “whether to suspend (the woman) pending investigation,” and was trying to “understand the motive behind the allegation,” given her short employment period.

Last June, Ramon was introduced as the general manager of the DoubleTree Hotel near the former Cabela’s.

The hotel had been a Holiday Inn for about 20 years, then transitioned into a Motel 6 before filing for bankruptcy. It then sat vacant for about two years before reopening last year as a DoubleTree.

Ramon is no longer employed at the hotel.