Ron Jeremy
A grand jury indicted Ron Jeremy, 68, on more than 30 counts for sexually assaulting 21 women over the course of two decades, said the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday. This development is part of an ongoing rape case against the porn star involving multiple alleged victims, including a girl who was as young as 15 years old.
“Far too often, survivors of sexual assault suffer in isolation,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement obtained by Law&Crime. “We must ensure that survivors have all options available to help with recovery, including trauma-informed services for healing and support to report such crimes.”
Under these charges, Jeremy (legal name Ron Jeremy Hyatt) abused 21 women over a 23-year span going back to 1996, when he allegedly raped a 19-year-old at a photoshoot in the San Fernando Valley, according to the D.A.’s office on Wednesday. In another incident, he allegedly raped a woman at a nightclub in Oct. 2000. In 2008, he allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl at a home in the Woodland Hills neighborhood. Victims range in age from 15 to 51, prosecutors said. The investigation remains ongoing.
Jeremy pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to 12 counts of forcible rape, seven counts of forcible oral copulation, six counts of sexual battery by restraint, four counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious or asleep person and one count each of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14 or 15 and sodomy by use of force and assault with intent to commit rape, prosecutors said.
The grand jury indicted the porn star last Thursday but a court only unsealed it on Wednesday, prosecutors said. Porn industry trade publication XBIZ (the link is NSFW) first reported the grand jury meeting in an Aug. 16 article, citing “sources familiar with the proceedings.” The Los Angeles Times later followed up and confirmed the then-ongoing proceedings.
[Image via David McNew/Getty Images]