By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – A 19-year-old LaPlace man was arrested Saturday morning after he forcibly raped a female friend, said a spokesperson for the St. John Sheriff’s Office.

Maj. Mike Tregre, Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said the suspect, whose name was withheld in an effort to protect the identity of the victim, was taken into custody around 5:50 a.m. Saturday. He is being held on $50,000 bond at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace.

According to Tregre, the Sheriff’s office received a call earlier that morning, around 2:11 a.m., from a 19-year-old LaPlace woman who said she was watching a movie with the man at a home in the 2900 block of Yorktowne Drive. The woman said the man began rubbing and touching on her. Tregre said the woman had asked the man several times to stop, but the man continued.

Sheriff’s Office reports said the woman then told deputies that the man locked the bedroom door, got on top of her, removed her clothes, and raped her.

Tregre said the suspect told deputies he initially thought the woman was joking when she asked him to stop. The suspect said that when the woman continued to object his advances, he stopped immediately and left the home.

The report said the man admitted to holding the woman’s hands down, but he said that at no time did he refuse to let the woman leave.

Investigators said the woman and man were watching a movie with another couple, but the other couple had left the room when the alleged rape took place.