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Over 20 Women and Underage Girls Accuse TikToker of Sexual Harassment and Assault

Maina ChenMaina Chen
July 6, 2020

Trigger Warning: The content of this article may upset survivors of rape and sexual assault, including the links to detailed stories.

Editor’s Note: NextShark has verified graphic screenshots of stories, but out of respect for the women who expressed that they prefer we don’t include their posts, we have omitted them.

This article has also been updated (July 13, 11:20 EST) to include the details of a Seattle Police Department detective who survivors can contact.

More than 20 survivors, women and children as young as 14, have come forward to accuse TikToker, singer, and photographer Donnoven Nguyen of sexual harassment and assault.

Across the West Coast and spanning several years, Donnoven allegedly exhibited predatory behavior from when he was a University of Washington student, when he lived in Seattle and currently as a Los Angeles resident.

A person who wished to remain anonymous told NextShark after a 2017 Title IX incident at the University of Washington (UW), “Donnoven then fled Seattle to escape the backlash and tried to start a new life as a photographer.” Described as a “shapeshifter desperately doing anything for fame and clout,” they said, “his latest attempt at fame is to do music and TikTok.”

After a former friend and fellow photographer, identified as Connor, tweeted last week about how Donnoven “utilized his connections, followers, and photography to exploit and hurt innocent women,” more stories of survivors flooded the platform to point out their similar incidents.

Connor recalled an incident in a party last year where a friend of his, “who was underage at the time and also drunk,” could not give consent to the way Donnoven was forcing himself on her.

When confronted by Connor, Donnoven allegedly said, “Bro I’m with people right now quiet down” and “I was drunk it won’t happen again.”

Connor claimed that there were over 16 survivors, and how he realized “Donnoven is not the God fearing, nice and caring man he is.”

In addition to his note, Connor attached a message he received from a girl who was underage at the time when Donnoven made a pass at her. She explained she was “very young” and was still advanced on, even after she said no. Under the tweet are more replies from women who’ve felt uncomfortable around him.

One survivor, Autumn Jacobsen, has been vocal about Donnoven, including the apology he wrote and later deleted on his social media. In her incident, after allegedly lying about being suicidal, he appeared at her house to “grope [her] and say disgusting things.”

Autumn told NextShark she wanted to use her voice on behalf of the survivors who weren’t comfortable revealing their stories. She stated that his survivors surpass 20 at minimum, with many being underage.

“The girls that do have the most heartbreaking stories didn’t want theirs shared. I hope they make them public but they’d make you sick to your stomach.”

To Autumn, it was “sickening” to learn that he continued to assault numerous women and children years after her incident when he lived in Washington.

“I’d seen him aggressively makeout with girls at parties that he provided alcohol for and then would later find out they were underage,” she said. “To be honest, I felt stupid and defenseless. I wish I had spoken up when my situation [happened] but I didn’t have any idea of the magnitude.”

Donnoven’s interactions with her seemed off “every time.” She called him “a pathological liar and extremely inconsistent. Not only with the things he says but with how he treats people. “

For his fans, he allegedly acted as a loyal friend, but “sometimes he is a complete predator. The man is sick and twisted.”

His behavior did not come as a surprise to Autumn, as she and other girls claim “he’s an absolute creep,” in their interactions.

“He comes off extremely pushy and uncomfortable right off the bat.”  However, because he “is also charismatic,” Autumn and other survivors were unsure if “his creepy remarks and excessive touching (your waist, holding your hand, putting his arm around you to touch your chest, etc) is on purpose or not,” she said. “But I know first hand that it is. He did it to me numerous times after vocalizing my discomfort and shutting down his advances.”

A day or two after Connor’s tweet, survivors continued to share their experiences as well with many others voicing their support for the young women.

As Connor mentioned in his note, he and Donnoven would go to church together, which struck a chord with some more survivors. Young Life (YL) is a Christian organization dedicated to helping more youth grow into their faith, as stated by their website. Some claimed that he abused his position at YL to pursue young girls and exploit their trust.

One girl, who requested to remain anonymous, told NextShark that her incident with Donnoven happened when she was 14. Her and Donnoven’s shared involvement with YL and dedication to the Christian faith was one of the main factors that helped them bond. They were both from the Seattle area, attended the same high school, and due to his position as a link leader (freshman orientation leader), there was a foundation of trust established.

She said he would constantly talk about helping her “‘grow in my relationship with God’ and things like that.”

As they talked more over Snapchat, her trust gradually grew “as he showed me how Christian he was.”

However, a shift happened and the TikToker would constantly sexually harass her by “making unwarranted sexual comments, asking me for nude photos,” and more.

Editor’s note: She meant to type “link leader.”

It peaked one day when she needed a ride home and Donnoven volunteered.

“When we got to my house, he prevented me from getting out of his car and tried to kiss me multiple times, and laughed at me as I was trying to avoid him,” she said. “After this, I tried to forget about what had happened. We stayed friends and he continued to sexually harass me until I finally completely cut contact with him.”

Before he deleted his apology, her sister commented under his Instagram post, defending her.

 

Donnoven posted an apology to his Instagram on June 24, however, it spoke only of the Title IX incident at UW. Twitter users called on his hypocrisy and thought it was patronizing and “twisted” that he included the national sexual assault hotline to it.

 

Before it was deleted, a few more women blasted him in the comments, saying that he was lying and that he continually tried to force them after the UW incident. The time-frames they claimed didn’t match up to what he was saying, and their comments stated that he was responsible for more than just the isolated incident mentioned.

Survivors and their supporters were enraged following a leaked tweet of Donnoven allegedly texting his friend to say he was going to “drop a fire apology” and “stay off social media for 6 weeks,” with the implication he would return.

In response to his apology, a petition came out, specifically dating back to the 2017 incident involving a Title IX investigation at the UW, where he received probational punishment. (NextShark received the screenshots for this particular very graphic story, however, she expressed that it was important for her to have autonomy of her own story on her own platform.) The petition calls Donnoven to be permanently banned from all social media platforms, namely, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok and YouTube.

“He uses these platforms to prey on women. This is a clear violation of community guidelines. With the removal of his accounts, survivors will be brought justice and a safer environment will be created in his absence,” it read.

Autumn said she hoped “he’ll have to register as a sex offender/pedophile for the rest of his life,” while another (anonymous) person wanted all his music to also be pulled from streaming platforms.

The petition mentioned how he has a history of dodging, and continually “using his platforms to manipulate and deny these experiences.”

Last year, a friend of a survivor DMed him and Donnoven allegedly gaslighted her and outed his own sister as a survivor. “I’m definitely aware of one person I made amends with I got help for it and moved on with my life,” he wrote.

Twitter users have continued to save and share in his past dubious behavior, including a questionable video where he described what he liked about Black girls. Users immediately pointed out that in the video as much as he likes “breaking stereotypes,” “everything he said he likes about black girls is a stereotype.” Users also dug up his Tweets from 2014 where he used the N-word multiple times.

Since then, within a couple days from Connor’s tweet, Donnoven has deactivated his Instagram and Twitter. His TikTok was the last to go once he deactivated it over the weekend.

Bonnie, a woman who continues to gather cases against the TikToker, told NextShark that she is working with the “Seattle PD currently to open an investigation, and currently helping any victims in Seattle/LA press charges (or just sending in reports).”

She encourages any survivors to reach out to her at [email protected] or the SPD detective who is developing a case at [email protected]

NextShark has reached out to Seattle PD for comment on the status of the case. The department has been unable to provide any statement as of this writing.

When reached for comment through email, Donnoven addressed the claims as “accusations and rumors” but did not provide any further statement.

Feature Image Screenshots via Getty (left), @donnoven (right)

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