Winthrop police: Man charged in 2015 sex assault of minor after Facebook contact
Police have charged a Rock Hill man with sexually assaulting a female minor at a Winthrop University stadium in 2015 after they met on Facebook, officials said.
Daryl Michael Trabucco, 26, was arrested by Winthrop University police this week, records show. Trabucco was picked up by York County Sheriff’s Office deputies in a traffic stop, said Winthrop police Lt. Charles Yearta.
Winthrop police investigated because one of the crimes are alleged to have happened on campus, police reports show. Neither Trabucco nor the victim were Winthrop University students, nor did they have any affiliation with the school, according to Yearta and police reports.
Trabucco is charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, police and jail records show.
York County deputies found that Winthrop police had outstanding warrants against Trabucco that dated to November of 2015, according to a Winthrop police incident report. Police had not been able to locate Trabucco until the traffic stop, Yearta said.
One of the sex assaults happened at the Winthrop baseball stadium in September 2015, and another at a Rock Hill residence in August 2015, according to arrest warrants obtained by The Herald. In both cases, Trabucco is accused of giving the minor pot, then engaging in sex acts, according to the warrants.
The crimes happened when the victim was 15 years old, warrants state.
Winthrop officers were told of the allegations in October 2015, police reports show. The accuser told Winthrop officers she met Trabucco three years before that, reports show. The victim communicated with Trabucco over Facebook in the three years before the assault, officers said.
Winthrop police said the case is an example of the potential dangers of social media.
“With social media, the idea of meeting someone online then transitioning to a meeting has inherent dangers,” Yearta said. “Young people have to be aware of social media dangers, and parents can monitor their children’s social media.”
After an investigation in October and November of 2015, Winthrop officers received warrants to arrest Trabucco on the sex and delinquency charges.
Second degree criminal sexual conduct is defined as a suspect using aggravated coercion to accomplish sexual battery, South Carolina law states. A conviction carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison for each charge, state law shows.
Trabucco remains in the York County jail under a $60,000 bond, records show.
