Detailed accounts of three assaults

Weng acquired drugs typically used by medical professionals from a supplier in Germany, according to the motion.

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SUSPECT: Sizhe Wang, 30, who was studying electrical engineering at USC, allegedly sedated women with drugs before assaulting them.

(GENARO MOLINA Los Angeles Times)

The sexual assaults occurred on Dec. 10, 2021; Aug. 1, 2022; and over a period in 2023 and 2024, according to court records. But Weng, who also goes by Steve, did not come to the attention of the LAPD until January, when German authorities reached out about his involvement in a sex crimes and drugs _ investigation there, said LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton, who oversees the detective bureau.

“As soon as we became aware ofactionable information, we opened an investigation,” Hamilton said. “It took usa while to catch up to all the activities this individual has been involved in, in LA.”

Weng, 30, who coauthored more than two dozen academic papers and worked in the lab of Stephen Cronin, a prominent USC engineering professor, was charged on Sept. 2withrape, sodomy and sexual penetration by use of a controlled substance or anesthesia. He pleaded not guilty.

Hamilton said the evidence discovered at Weng’s home pointed detectives to additional victims.

“Based on the investigation, we suspect there are more victims, and some of those victims may not know what happened,” Hamilton said. “We are looking at patterns of activity and we have evidence that says there are other victims.”