A USC graduate scholar who has used medicine to rape and assault a number of ladies is accused of being a serial sexual predator and authorities are on the lookout for extra victims, Los Angeles Police Division officers introduced Wednesday.
Sizhe Weng, 33, is being held with out bail after being arrested and charged with eight felony counts involving drug-facilitated sexual assaults of younger ladies he got here into contact with since starting his graduate research on the College of Southern California in 2021.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton stated at a press convention that the division started investigating Weng in January after German authorities reached out pertaining an identical investigation in Europe involving a Chinese language nationwide who they discovered was a scholar dwelling in Los Angeles for a number of years. Ultimately, the data developed amongst LAPD and German authorities led to detectives looking out a search warrant at Weng’s residence in South L.A. close to the USC campus, Hamilton stated.
Hamilton stated detectives arrested Weng on Aug. 28 for rape of an intoxicated individual, and searched his residence.
On Sept. 2, Weng was charged with eight felony counts of rape, sodomy, sexual penetration involving medicine and anesthesia, Hamilton stated. Weng pleaded not responsible.
Hamilton, who oversees LAPD’s detectives, stated they strongly suspect there are different victims and are encouraging them to come back ahead.
“When you’ve got had any sort of contact with this particular person, in case you are linked to him by means of another methods or another means, our Theft Murder detectives wish to interview you concerning his actions,” Hamilton stated.
These alleged victims may very well be in L.A. and past, he stated. “As quickly as we grew to become conscious of actionable data, we opened an investigation,” Hamilton stated. “It took us some time to catch as much as all of the actions this particular person has been concerned in LA.”
Hamilton stated he wouldn’t specify the medicine concerned, however primarily, it rendered the patron bodily unable and, in actual phrases, was much like the date rape drug generally known as a roofie.
Whereas Weng had a scholar visa in California since 2021, Hamilton stated the division can’t be positive he was not within the space earlier than then and so has not dominated out incidents in earlier years.
