Police: Millcreek man arrested after posting attempted sexual assault on social media

Lorenzo Lolo Bokanga. Photo: Salt Lake County

SANDY, Utah, Oct. 31, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A Millcreek man has been booked into jail after police say he attempted to sexually assault a woman in Sandy, and posted the incident on social media.

Lorenzo Lolo Bokanga, who turned 30 on Tuesday, has been charged on suspicion of:

  • Attempted rape, a first-degree felony
  • Attempted forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony
  • Burglary, a second-degree felony
  • Assault, a class B misdemeanor
  • Threat of violence, a class B misdemeanor

The attack is alleged to have occurred on Sept. 28, charging documents say. The probable cause statement was filed by an officer of the Sandy City Police Department.

The statement says the victim was at her residence, preparing to shower and dressed only in a towel, when Bokanga, and acquaintance, entered the house. The woman fled upstairs, the statement says, locked the bathroom door, and began showering.

Bokanga was able to get into the bathroom without consent, and the woman told him to leave, the statement says. He attempted to initiate various sex acts, and the woman continued to tell him “no.”

As he turned to leave, the woman noticed Bokanga was recording on Facebook Live, the charging documents say. She asked if that’s what he was doing, and Bokanga said “No.”

Bokanga then left the bathroom and gave his phone to the woman’s cousin, the statement says. The victim tried to get the phone, but Bokanga took back his phone and shoved her, the statement says.

Bokanga then began to leave, but the woman followed him outside in an attempt to see what he had recorded on his phone, charging documents say.

“Defendant (Bokanga) shoved (the woman) away,” the statement says. “The defendant then tried to hit (the woman) with his fist, but stopped when (the victim’s) friend told him ‘no.’ The defendant got in a car to drive away. Before leaving, the defendant exited the vehicle and told (the woman) he was going to kill her.”

The woman told responding officers she and Botanga had consensual relations two months earlier. Twice since then, he had tried to enter her shower without her consent, and solicit sex. She had told him “no” each time, the statement says.

Officers were able to view the uploaded video, which showed Bokanga walking into the victim’s house without knocking, eating food, then tinkering with the bathroom door and entering and placing a towel over the phone, and removing it a little later.

Bokanga denied trying to force the victim to have sex, and also denied he recording anything on Facebook Live. When confronted with the online video, he admitted recording it, the probable cause statement says.

Bokanga’s bail has been set at $150,007.

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