Police are now searching nationwide for more victims of alleged dating app rapist
ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. (KMOV/Gray News) – Police are now searching nationwide for more potential victims of a Missouri man who has been charged with raping at least five women he met on dating apps.
The St. Louis County Police Department said Yahya Maly, 28, has lived in or visited multiple states over the past few years where they believe there may be more victims.
He went by the name “John” on several dating apps.
Maly is facing charges for the alleged sexual assaults of five women he met on dating apps. Police said he raped them at his apartment in Ballwin, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
The victims told police that Maly had pushed them down and forcefully held them against their will while sexually assaulting them.
He also is facing kidnapping charges. According to court documents, the most recent victim was held against her will for a period of seven hours on Feb. 2 and was repeatedly sexually assaulted.
On another occasion, Maly allegedly held a victim against her will for an hour and choked her.
He was arrested earlier this month and is charged with 13 felony counts, including rape, sodomy and kidnapping.
Since his arrest, police said a sixth potential victim has come forward.
Maly is expected to face additional charges when the case involving the sixth victim is taken to a grand jury.
Police are now looking for more victims in other states and provided a timeline for Maly’s whereabouts.
According to police, Maly may have additional victims in the following areas:
- Henrico County, Virginia (Lived there from at least 2013 to 2021)
- Chicago, Illinois (Stayed there from Jan. 12, 2022, to Feb. 12, 2022)
- Tucson, Arizona (Stayed there from Dec. 3, 2022, to Jan. 17, 2023)
- Minneapolis—St. Paul, Minnesota (Stayed there from Jan. 27, 2023, to Feb. 25, 2023)
His alleged crimes near St. Louis happened between March 1, 2023, and February 2, 2025.
Up until his arrest, Maly was a student at Logan University, a chiropractic school near St. Louis, which issued a statement saying he is no longer attending the university and that they are assisting police in the investigation.
A classmate of Maly’s at Logan University, who wants to remain anonymous, told KMOV the warning signs were there long before Maly was arrested. She said Maly made several female students feel uncomfortable during their chiropractic lessons, including herself.
“I tried to keep my distance … we’re practicing what we’re going to do in the office one day. Him just having lingering touches and not keeping the professional boundaries,” she said.
Maly is currently in custody on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
During a hearing last week, a judge said that his bond would not be reduced, saying Maly is a flight risk and a danger to the community.
Maly did not have an attorney and chose to represent himself. He told Judge Julia Lasater that he wasn’t a threat to anyone, wasn’t a flight risk and said, “I give you my word.”
Maly also told the judge that his confinement in jail was causing him anxiety.
Prosecutors argued that Maly is a flight risk because his parents live outside the U.S. and he is not from St. Louis. They also said he’s only living in the area to attend Logan University, where he’s no longer a student.
Three of the women who have accused Maly of rape attended the hearing.
Assistant prosecuting attorney Ashley Bailey-Smith said the alleged victims have shown great courage to come forward and tell their stories.
“As one said to me today, this is the first time that she’s actually been able to feel some peace, knowing that she is safe from him. And that he will not be able to attack her again. And so, that is an overarching concern for us with this case,” Bailey-Smith said.
Anyone with information or who may have met Maly on a dating app is urged to call St. Louis County investigators at 314-615-5400, or call their local police department.
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