SSU Student Accused Of Rape, Sodomy By Drugging Pleads Not Guilty

SANTA ROSA, CA — A 21-year-old Sonoma State University student pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Sonoma County Superior Court to felony charges of rape and sodomy with the use of a drug of a woman on the Rohnert Park campus in December. Patrick James O'Regan will return to court July 24 for setting of a date for his preliminary hearing on the charges. Deputy District Attorney Laura Passaglia said the prosecution expects the results of DNA tests by then.

O'Regan was granted pre-trial release in May with enhanced supervision and was served a criminal protective order prohibiting contact with the alleged victim.

Sonoma State University said its Police Department received a report around 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 8 of a sexual assault that occurred late in the evening of Dec. 7 in the university's residential community.

Police conducted an extensive investigation that ended in late April, and arrested O'Regan at the Sonoma County criminal court complex on a single charge of rape.

The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office filed a complaint against O'Regan on April 16 and a warrant for his arrest was issued the next day, according to court records.

The complaint alleges that on Dec. 7, O'Regan committed rape and sodomy of the woman, who was prevented from resisting by an intoxicating anesthetic and controlled substance late in the evening of Dec. 7.

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—Bay City News Service