A University transfer student from the United Kingdom was arrested over the weekend for allegedly raping a woman multiple times on campus.Simon Taylor, 20, reportedly raped the woman in a portable restroom and in his dorm room in LeJeune Hall, according to Sgt. Jason Bettencourtt of the LSU Police Department. The attacks happened early Sunday morning, Bettencourtt said. Police did not release further information about the woman, including whether she is a student or her age. Bettencourtt said the woman had an alcoholic beverage with Taylor at a bar before the attacks. The woman went to LSUPD on Sunday to report the crime. “It is very good that she reported it,” said Judy Benitez, executive director of the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault. “If nobody reports it, then that’s why [a rapist] is out and available to do this again.”Four forcible sex offenses were reported on campus in 2008, with two of those being in residential facilities, according to the University’s 2009 Annual Safety Report. In 2007, there was only one reported, and in 2006, there were two. Benitez said research shows 75 to 90 percent of rapes are not reported. She said victims often don’t report a rape because of a combination of factors, including fear of retribution by the rapist and judgement of their lifestyle and choices.”We do a lot of victim judging,” she said. “But you have to remember that she’s somebody’s daughter.” LSUPD officers arrested Taylor in his dorm room Sunday. He was booked in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on one count each of simple rape and unlawful purchase of an alcoholic beverage.- – – -Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]
Student arrested in alleged raping
November 3, 2009