Update 6:45 p.m. EDT Oct. 17: A California surgeon and his girlfriend are facing five additional charges of drugging and raping women, according to news reports.
Reality TV star and celebrity orthopedic surgeon Dr. Grant Robicheaux, 38, and Cerissa Riley, 31, are accused of "rape by drugs, kidnapping, oral copulation by anesthesia, assault with intent to commit sexual offenses and other crimes" in cases dating back to 2009, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Robicheaux was additionally charged with sexually assaulting five women and Riley was charged in connection with attacks on three women, according to the newspaper. The original charges involved attacks on two women.
The pair pleaded not guilty during a court hearing Wednesday in Newport Beach, California, to a number of felony charges relating to the alleged drugging and raping of women, the Times reported.
A judge also increased Robichaeux’s bail to $1 million, the L.A. Times reported. If convicted on the charges, he faces more than 80 years in jail.
Riley is facing more than 60 years in prison if she’s convicted on the charges
Original story: A California surgeon who appeared on a reality TV show and a woman are accused of drugging and sexually assaulting at least two women.
Authorities said Grant W. Robicheaux, 38, and Cerissa Laura Riley, 31, were taken into custody Sept. 12 on multiple charges, including "rape by use of drugs."
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in a news conference that the investigation into the pair began in October 2016.
Police were called to Robicheaux's Newport apartment on Oct. 2, 2016, after a neighbor called 911 when he or she heard a woman screaming. The alleged victim said she was sexually assaulted by Robicheaux and Riley when they brought her to his home after meeting them at a bar, where she drank "until she was unconscious," according to The Associated Press.
A 32-year-old woman claimed she was assaulted by the pair in April 2016 after meeting them at a local restaurant. She told police she "consumed large amounts of alcohol" before going to Robicheaux's home for an after-party, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Prosecutors claim the woman was then drugged and sexually assaulted. The AP said "a forensic exam found multiple controlled substances" after she called police the day after the alleged incident.
On Jan. 9, 2018, authorities searched Robicheaux’s home and allegedly found unregistered firearms and large amounts of illegal drugs, including GHB, according Rackauckas.
In a press conference, Rackauckas also said investigators were combing through “thousands and thousands of videos and images on Robicheaux’s phone, many also including Riley.”
Some videos reportedly show women who are inebriated and “barely responsive to the defendant’s sexual advances,” leading investigators to believe there are other victims.
Robicheaux, a board certified orthopedic surgeon, was featured on a 2014 reality dating show that aired on Bravo, "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male." Orange Coast Magazine also named him "Orange County's Most Eligible Bachelor" in 2013, according to the LA Times.
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