Porn star Ron Jeremy indicted on 34 sex crime charges involving 21 victims
Jeremy, however, pleaded "not guilty" to the numerous charges against him including 12 counts of forcible rape.
Porn star Ron Jeremy is facing a possible maximum sentence of more than 250 years to life in prison after he was indicted on as many as 34 sex crime charges involving 21 victims including one minor at the time of the crime.
The 67-year-old was indicted by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office on Wednesday. In a statement about the decision, District Attorney Gascón said, "Far too often, survivors of sexual assault suffer in isolation. 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."
Jeremy, however, pleaded "not guilty" to the numerous charges against him including 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.
The registered crimes were allegedly committed over a 16-year time period, involving girls and women between the ages of 15 to 54 years old. The porn star was already arrested and charged in June last year for allegations of forcibly raping three women and assaulting another between 2014 and 2017, reports The Sun.
He is due in court again for a pretrial conference on October 12. He remains behind bars as he has been unable to post his bail set at $6.6 million.
Jeremy's accusers include Ginger Banks, who had said in a YouTube video three years ago that Jeremy had groped her at the AVN awards in 2016. The video also carried similar allegations levelled by multiple women, with Banks warning other members of the adult industry about his alleged behaviour.
Alana Evans, president of the Adult Performers Actors Guild, said that Jeremy "does things without asking." "There's a lot of people who assume because we're adult actresses that it's OK to just touch us inappropriately," she said, noting that one of Jeremy's accusers, Lianne Young, had told her she was raped by the porn star in 2000 at a porn industry Halloween party.
Jeremy used to be a teacher before he quit the profession to pursue an acting career on Broadway. He began his career as a porn star in 1979 after a girlfriend of his sent over a photo of him to Playgirl magazine for appearance in its "Boy Next Door" pages. Nicknamed "The Hedgehog," he starred in over 2,000 adult films and directed an additional 285 throughout his career in the industry. He even has his name listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for "Most Appearances in Adult Films."
Outside the adult film industry, he has appeared in a number of movies, music videos, and has been the subject of a biographical documentary, "Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy."
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.