Hip hop star Kodak Black is facing charges of raping a high school student in South Carolina, according to a prosecutor.
Although the popular rapper is on tour in the Southeast, he will likely have to return to South Carolina in either the summer or early fall, 12th Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements said in an interview with The State on Thursday.
That is when Kodak Black could potentially go on trial on the charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
“I’m hoping to get it up for disposition by then,” Clements said, after announcing the trial that was tentatively scheduled for April was continued to the later date.
The rapper committed the crime in a hotel room after performing at a concert in Florence, Clements said. An arrest warrant accuses the 21-year-old rapper of committing the sexual assault in February 2016.
Kodak Black, who was born named Dieuson Octave, was arrested on the sexual assault charge in November 2016, WMBF reported.
The girl did not immediately report the assault to law enforcement; instead she told a nurse at her Richland County high school, who informed the school resource officer before the information was eventually brought to the attention of the Florence County Sheriff’s Office, according to WPDE.
Clements confirmed to The State that the girl was not a minor when the crime occurred; otherwise the charges would have been different to reflect that.
According to the arrest warrant, Kodak Black forced the girl onto the bed, then the floor where he committed sexual battery, although she “repeatedly told the defendant no and to stop. The defendant did not stop.” He also bit the girl on the “neck and her right breast,” injuries that were documented in a rape kit, the arrest warrant said.
The hip hop star was released on a $100,000 bond, WPDE reported.
After he was released, Kodak Black agreed to be swabbed and the prosecutor’s office has his DNA, Clements told The State.
“We are slowly but steadily moving toward a disposition,” said Clements, who told The State the rapper could face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if convicted, but there are several lesser sentences he could face related to the same criminal sexual conduct charge. “I want to do justice for the victim, whatever that takes.”
Attorneys Beattie Ashmore and Robert E. Lee are representing the rapper, who has been “arrested four times in Florida,” the Florence Morning News reported.
According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, some of the Pompano Beach native’s charges include accusations “of forcing several people into a car after he suspected somebody of breaking into his house,” being arrested in “a suspected drug deal,” and “possession of cannabis.”
Kodak Black is known for his songs “Let Me Drive the Boat,” “Zeze,” “Roll in Peace,” “Tunnel Vision” and “No Flockin.”