LOS ANGELES– LOS ANGELES — A University of Southern California graduate student believed by police to be a serial sexual predator has been charged with drugging and raping several women as investigators search for other victims, Los Angeles authorities said.
Sizhe Weng, a 30-year-old Chinese national also known as Steven Weng, was arrested on August 28, although the prosecutor and police just released statements on the case on Wednesday.
Weng has pleaded not guilty to eight counts, including forcible rape and sodomy by controlled substance or anesthesia, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Weng was held without bail and could not be reached for comment. No attorney could be found for him, and the Los Angeles public defender’s office did not respond to an email asking whether one of its attorneys represented Weng.
USC said in a statement Wednesday that it was fully cooperating with police and had taken steps to bar Weng from campus.
“Providing a safe environment for learning, teaching and research is our top priority,” the statement said.
Detectives began investigating in January after receiving information from authorities about a possible suspect who allegedly used drugs from women before raping them in Los Angeles, police said in a statement.
“Evidence was found in Weng’s home that corroborates his involvement in drug-facilitated sexual assaults on multiple victims dating back to 2021 and continuing through 2025,” the police statement said. Investigators said Weng put unspecified incapacitating drugs in his victims’ food or drinks.
Weng first enrolled as a doctoral student at USC in 2021, prosecutors said.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman urged any other potential victims to contact the police department’s Robbery-Homicide Division.
“We want every victim to know that their voice matters and we will fight to ensure they are heard,” Hochman said in a statement.
If convicted, Weng faces 25 years to life in prison plus 56 years in state prison, the prosecutor’s office said.
