Rapper Mystikal Charged with First-Degree Rape, False Imprisonment After Arrest: Police

Glenn Garner
·2 min read
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - NOVEMBER 07: Rapper Mystikal performs onstage during the No Limit Reunion Tour at 2020 Funkfest at Legion Field on November 07, 2020 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - NOVEMBER 07: Rapper Mystikal performs onstage during the No Limit Reunion Tour at 2020 Funkfest at Legion Field on November 07, 2020 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

Paras Griffin/Getty

Mystikal, a New Orleans-based rapper, has been charged with sexual assault for the third time.

The Grammy Award nominee, 51, was arrested over the weekend after Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office (APSO) responded to a nearby hospital's report of a sexual assault survivor at around midnight the night before, according to a release from APSO.

The woman suffered minor injuries in the alleged attack, according to NBC News.

After investigators identified him as a suspect, Mystikal now faces charges of first-degree rape, simple robbery, domestic abuse battery – strangulation, false imprisonment and simple criminal damage to property. The investigation is ongoing.

RELATED: Mystikal Pleads Guilty to Sex Battery

https://www.facebook.com/AscensionSheriff/posts/pfbid0FhA58dzyizGJhWB9msBZbDYBSp485uLMLTFyqTDsTP81SuFm8i6UjjDrMVNmQtaLl MEDIA RELEASE: According to Sheriff Bobby Webre, on July 30, at approximately 11:58 pm, deputies with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to an area hospital in reference to a sexual assault. Detectives interviewed the victim who sustained minor injuries during the attack. Through further investigation, Michael 'Mystikal' Tyler was identified as a suspect. He was arrested and booked into the Ascension Parish Jail. He is charged with First-Degree Rape, Simple Robbery, Domestic Abuse Battery – Strangulation, False Imprisonment, Simple Criminal Damage to Property. This is an ongoing investigation. Further details may be limited at this time.

Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office

"[There is] a bail hearing at 3 tomorrow. We expect he will be released later in the week. Once he is we will begin our investigation of the allegations. There has been little opportunity to discuss them in detail thus far," his attorney, Roy Maughan, tells PEOPLE in a statement.

APSO did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

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Mystikal (born Michael Lawrence Tyler) previously pleaded guilty to sexual battery and extortion in a 2003 deal after he was charged with aggravated rape. He was accused of coercing his hairstylist into engaging in sex acts with himself and two bodyguards.

The Tarantula artist was later sentenced to six years in federal prison, according to BBC News. He was released in 2010 and forced to register as a sex offender in Louisiana, Reuters reported.

Mystikal was also indicted in 2017 on separate rape and kidnapping charges and spent 18 months in jail before being released on a $3 million bond, according to the Associated Press. The charges against him were dropped after a second grand jury declined to bring an indictment, per the outlet.