Deputies from the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to a call from a local hospital in reference to a sexual assault, Baton Rouge newspaper The Advocate said.
The victim, who sustained minor injuries, was interviewed, and shortly after, Tyler was identified as a suspect. He was arrested on Sunday, July 31, and remains in Ascension Parish jail.
In addition to counts of first-degree rape and domestic abuse battery; strangulation, the New Orleans native, 51, is facing several other charges including simple robbery, false imprisonment and simple criminal damage to property, according to Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office records.
A bail amount has not been set while he awaits arraignment.
In 2003, Tyler pleaded guilty to sexual battery and served six years in prison.
Then, in 2016, he was accused of first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping for allegedly assaulting a woman at a Shreveport, Louisiana, casino. The singer spent 18 months in prison despite maintaining his innocence. In 2019, he was released on a $3 million bond. The district attorney filed to dismiss the charges after new evidence was presented to a second grand jury.
“When I look back and listen to the music, man—I was a nasty lil’ rapper!” he said in an interview with The Associated Press in April 2021. “A lot of my music now, I imagine myself rapping it to God and if I can rap it, I’m proud.”
The father of two to kids Million and My’chelle said his lengthy legal battle felt like “a reoccurring bad dream.”
“I didn’t know how it was going to work out …,” he told the outlet. “Don’t put yourself in situations where things like this can happen. I’m too old for that. I don’t do the groupies on the road. I don’t perform at the show and get the ladies [excited] and get her all goo-goo eyed and take advantage [of being a celebrity] … That was a young Mystikal.”
Tyler acknowledged that while some people may never forgive him for his mistakes, he “learned from the first situation,” he said, referring to his arrest in 2003.
“I can’t do nothing about that, but I try to understand where they’re coming from,” he explained. “At this point in age, I’m just grateful to still be able to participate. At my concerts, man, I still [have a] packed house after all this time. It’s amazing.”
The musician is best known for his 2000 hit song “Shake Ya Ass.”
Newsweek reached out to Tyler and the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office for comment.
Specialists from the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) sexual assault hotline are available 24/7 via phone (1 (800) 656-4673) and online chat. Additional support from the group is also accessible via the mobile app.
