Man accused of raping at least 5 women he met on dating apps: ‘Insanely heinous’

BALLWIN, Mo. (KMOV/Gray News) – A Missouri man is accused of raping at least five women he met on dating apps, officials said.

Yahya Maly, 28, was arrested around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at his apartment in Ballwin, a suburb of St. Louis.

The alleged crimes spanned almost two years between March 2023 and earlier this month.

Court documents state that Maly had five victims, all of which he met on dating websites where he went by the name “John.”

All the victims said the crimes happened at Maly’s apartment.

The victims told police that Maly had pushed them down and forcefully held them against their will while sexually assaulting them.

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.

Maly was a student at Logan University, a chiropractic school, which issued a statement saying he is no longer attending the university and that they are assisting police in the investigation.

“This individual is no longer a student of Logan University,” the statement reads. “We are fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities to help in whatever manner we can to the investigation. The safety of Logan University students, faculty, staff and visitors is our top priority.”

Mohammed Meer, who lives across the hall from Maly, said he saw Maly get arrested Tuesday by SWAT officers.

“I just saw a SWAT team of about 10 people coming up and just charging right in there,” he said.

Meer wonders if he saw Maly with one of his recent victims just a few weeks ago.

“It makes me feel sick to my stomach because the other day, I seeing him walk with some girl on the side of the road here, maybe two or three weeks ago with some other lady,” he said, calling the alleged crimes “insanely heinous.”

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.

According to the student, she reported her concerns to the school, but no action was taken.

“I was told that because it wasn’t a Title 9 violation that we couldn’t really do anything, so it was basically like keeping a record of like if he’s gonna do anything off,” she said.

KMOV reached out to Logan University to ask if they received reports about Maly before or after his arrest. On Thursday, they sent the following statement:

“Federal privacy rules limit our ability to share specific information about current and former students, including any reports or complaints about students. We can share the University’s approach to reports of this nature, which is that the University takes all reports seriously, thoroughly reviews such reports, and responds to those reports in a manner consistent with University policy and applicable law. As an institution of higher education, the University’s response prioritizes its commitment to providing a safe learning environment for all students.”

The classmate said she was shocked to see a news article saying Maly had been arrested, knowing her intuition was right all along.

“I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is real.’ Like, he’s actually hurt other women,” she said. “I was just shaking and then like the tears just hit because I was like, ‘That could have been any of us,’” she said.

Maly is charged with two counts of first-degree rape or attempted rape, seven counts of second-degree rape, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, and two counts of first-degree sodomy or attempted sodomy. His cash-only bond was set at $500,000.

St. Louis County police believe there may be more victims.

Anyone with information or who may have met Maly on a dating app is urged to call investigators at 314-615-5400.

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