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‘Mr. Olympia’ charged with raping female bodybuilder in Utah hotel room

Posted at 8:45 PM, Jul 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-13 20:45:07-04

SANDY, Utah — The current “Mr. Olympia” has been charged with raping a fellow bodybuilder who considered him a mentor.

Shawn “Flexatron” Rhoden, 44, was charged Thursday with rape, object rape and forcible sexual abuse.

According to court documents, Rhoden was visiting Utah from Southern California in October 2018 when a fellow competitive bodybuilder came to visit him at the hotel he was staying at in Sandy. She went to his room while the photographer she was with waited in the lobby.

The woman told police that Rhoden started kissing and touching her, despite her trying to push him away and asking him to stop repeatedly. He did not stop, but progressively continued touching her sexually, then raped her, according to a probable cause statement. Police say the Rhoden finally stopped and allowed her to leave after she told him her photographer was waiting in the lobby and would know that “something [was] up.”

She then contacted her husband and police, court documents state.

In the request for a warrant for Rhoden’s arrest, police included results from a sexual assault examination and a DNA test.

Rhoden is the current Mr. Olympia titleholder. Court documents state that the woman considered him a colleague and mentor.

A warrant was issued for his arrest; Fox 13 has not yet heard back from the Salt Lake County Jail whether he has been arrested yet.