Arizona congressional candidate says she was sexually assaulted while fixing campaign signs

WARNING: Some of the details may be disturbing. Viewer and reader discretion is advised.

PHOENIX (NBC, KYMA) - Arizona congressional candidate Bernadette Greene-Placentia (D), who is running for the state's Eighth District, said she was sexually assaulted by two men in August.

She was repairing campaign signs in the early morning hours of August 14 when the attack happened in the northwest valley of Phoenix.

Greene-Placentia filed a police report 17 days later and originally wanted to keep the alleged assault private, but changed her mind, hoping to encourage other victims of sexual assault to share their experiences and look for help.

"My first memory is, as dumb as it sounds, I was like, 'Man, my bed is really uncomfortable' because, my back was hurting, and then I realized that I was on the ground, and somebody was on top of me, and it was painful," Greene-Placentia shared.

That's one of the few memories Greene-Placentia said she has from the early morning hours of August 14.

The Democratic candidate for Congressional District 8 said she was out repairing campaign signs, something she usually does with her husband or a volunteer.

"We usually would go out in the middle of the night because I mean back then, it was still like 110, 115 degrees, and at night ,at least the sun's not beating down on us. Plus...less traffic," Greene-Placentia spoke.

She told an NBC affiliate in Phoenix on that particular night, she was out by herself.

"I opened my eyes, I think, and then somebody else was on top of me. And then I do remember seeing my legs like kicking, and he was like, 'It's just not even worth it,' and then he got off," Greene-Placentia detailed.

She said she can't describe the two men's faces. Only recalling a small foot and a black boot with tan cuffs.

Nearly 20 days later, on August 31, she filed a report with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO), saying she left her Sun City apartment at 12:15 a.m. and returned at 1:40 in the morning.

However, the MCSO report stated investigators believe she was out fixing political signs between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. The report said she remembers pulling into an empty parking lot, but couldn't identify which one.

The report listed the area near 99th Avenue and Bell Road in Sun City, though the exact location remains unknown.

Greene-Placentia said investigators used surveillance video from her apartment complex to help narrow down where she could have been.

She said at first ,she wanted to keep this extremely private between immediate family, her campaign team, and close friends, but when asked why she eventually filed a police report, she said the thought came to her while she was speaking to a group of senior citizens.

"I'm standing there looking at these folks, saying, "Do you think anyone's going to fight harder for you than me?' And it just like flashed in my head. Well, you're saying you're going to fight for them, but you're kind of a hypocrite if you don't fight for women that have been victims of sexual assault," Greene-Placentia remarked.

She said she suffered several injuries, many of which she didn't document because she claims she never had plans of reporting it.

"I noticed the the bump on my head, and I didn't actually notice until my husband pointed out I had like really deep finger-type bruises where somebody had held me down, and then kind of like little pits in the back where, I guess, I was on the gravel, and I had some bruises kind of like on my flank and stuff," she further detailed.

Now, she's hoping that sharing her story will help investigators find the men she says attacked her, and maybe help narrow down where it happened.

"If word does get out, that maybe local businesses would be like, 'Hey, you know, her sign's on the corner. I wonder if she was in our area,' and maybe they'll check their cameras. I think that that was probably the the hope that they were going to try and find local businesses if they could narrow it down, even if it's just me driving by to kind of narrow it down a little bit more," she hoped.

The NBC affiliate in Phoenix did reach out to MCSO about the report. They said this is an ongoing investigation and cannot comment at this time.