BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — New Orleans rapper Mystikal pled not guilty to charges in an Ascension Parish rape case at his Monday morning arraignment.
Mystikal, whose real name is Michael Tyler, 51, was arrested on charges including first-degree rape after allegedly raping and choking a woman at his home on Saturday, July 30. Tyler was booked into the parish jail on charges of first-degree rape, simple robbery, damage to property, domestic abuse battery, strangulation, false imprisonment, and four counts of drug possession.
A spokesperson from the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office said the victim was “distraught” and sustained “obvious physical injuries” in the attack.
This isn’t the first time Tyler has been accused of sexual assault. The Associated Press reported Tyler’s kidnapping charges from an alleged sexual assault at a Shreveport casino in 2016 were dropped in 2020. In 2003, Tyler served six years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual battery.