Man Arrested After LSU Student Raped at Gunpoint

The suspect reportedly confessed to police that he committed the crime.

LSU police have made an arrest after a student was abducted on campus last week and raped.

Frank Herrera Jr., 20, has been charged with kidnapping, second degree rape, armed robbery, possession of schedule 1 drugs and possession of a firearm on school property.

Herrera’s arrest comes after campus police questioned two people of interest in the investigation for hours on Friday, according to wbrz.com.

The incident occurred during the day on March 15 near a sorority house on campus.

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Arrest records show the victim was exiting her vehicle when a man wearing all black and a red bandana over his face forced the female back into her vehicle at gunpoint. The suspect then drove the victim to an off campus location and forced her to perform sexual acts.

After the rape, the suspect drove the victim to a convenience store and told her to go inside to get condoms. The suspect then drove away in the victim’s vehicle, which was recovered in the sorority area later that day.

LSU police identified two people of interest after locating a vehicle that matched a description of the suspect’s car. An image of the vehicle, which is damaged and missing a side view mirror, had been distributed around campus.

Police executed a search warrant at Herrera’s home and discovered an iPhone case that matched the victim’s iPhone case. Detectives also found a small black 9mm pistol and a red bandana that matched the victim’s descriptions.

Herrera later confessed to the kidnapping and rape.

A portion of LSU President F. King Alexander’s statement following the arrest is included below:

“I am president of LSU, but I am also a father to three young women. I understand the turmoil this event has caused for our students and their families. And I hear your concerns. Please know that the safety and security of every single LSU student is always our top priority, and necessary for providing the best education environment possible. We received some comments about the minimal amount of detail we released during the investigative process, and I would like to assure you that there was reasoning behind that – there was a preponderance of evidence pointing to the suspect and law enforcement was very close to making an arrest. We could not afford this predator any opportunity to flee or avoid being apprehended because we released too much information.”

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