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LSU student out on bond in cyberstalking case arrested in dorm room rape
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BATON ROUGE - An LSU student out on bond after a cyberstalking arrest was booked in a separate rape case on Tuesday.
According to the arrest warrant, a woman came forward months after being raped by 23-year-old Michael "Sonny" Trinh, an LSU student. The woman told officers that she met Sonny through social media and the two had a consensual sexual encounter.
She told officers that after the initial meetup, Sonny became "pushy about sexual things," the warrant said. The woman alleges that he threatened to send explicit photos of her to other people if she did not keep communicating with him. The victim said the demands escalated from talking to meeting up in person.
Investigators say the two met at the victim's dorm room in Herget Hall sometime in late January. She told police that the extortion threats made her reluctant to reject his requests to meet and that he pressured her into sex acts. Trinh reportedly apologized to the woman later, adding that he found God.
In the arrest documents, the officer noted that the woman's situation seemed similar to other reports against Trinh. In February, he was arrested for cyberstalking and extortion. He pleaded not guilty May 14 and was released on bond. On the same day, the woman came forward to the police.
Trinh was booked into jail Tuesday for third-degree rape and extortion.
LSU released the following statement Tuesday evening:
“This student has been arrested and along with going through the legal system, will also go through our student conduct process. While federal law prohibits us from sharing any findings or disciplinary actions based on that process, we want to assure our community that we take this matter very seriously and are taking all the proper steps. We are also doing everything possible to assist the survivor of this incident and are making available to them the full range of the university’s resources and support.”
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