LSU Student Senate accepted the resignation of an LSU graduate student Wednesday at the weekly Senate meeting.
Edouard d’Espalungue, 29, resigned from his position in the Student Senate on Wednesday. There was speculation surrounding his resignation due to rape and sexual battery charges from last year. However, the official reason for his resignation was a heavy workload from school.
According to WBRZ, d’Espalungue was booked on second-degree rape and sexual battery charges in October 2018. He was initially released on a $25,000 bond, but was later rearrested and booked after detectives obtained more evidence. He was released following this arrest on a $75,000 bond.
On Thursday, The Reveille contacted the Rapides Parish District Attorney’s Office, but they had no information about d’Espalungue’s case. The Reveille also contacted the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office, which confirmed his October 2018 arrest but had no other information concerning his case.
Speaker of the Senate, Austin Grashoff, was not able to comment on d’Espalungue’s resignation. He was only able to reiterate the official reasoning given to him as Speaker of the Senate in d’Espalungue’s official statement.