Former Facebook employee, 27, is charged with ‘raping a friend at knifepoint after inviting her inside his home for a glass of water’

A former Facebook employee has been officially charged with raping a female friend, who says he held her at knifepoint after a night out with friends.

Yue Zhou, 27, was charged this week on felony rape and battery charges in connection to the June 24 attack. He is due in court for an arraignment on September 6.


According to the San Jose Mercury News, the charges include three counts of rape by force, violence, duress, menace or fear; one count of sexual battery of a victim; one count of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of false imprisonment.
Before the attack, Zhou’s Facebook profile said he was business analyst for the company. However, a source close to Facebook says he is no longer employed there anymore. It’s unclear whether he lost his position due to the criminal case.

The former Facebook business analyst was arrested at his home in Palo Alto, California, on July 5.
The alleged victim, a woman in her 20s who is not being identified, came forward to police about the rape on June 25 – the day after the attack.