Surgeon drug rape case: 12 more women accuse reality TV star and girlfriend of assault
District Attorney investigating new claims about the couple after charges were announced
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Your support makes all the difference.A California prosecutor is investigating claims made by more than 12 possible new victims in the case of a surgeon and his girlfriend charged with drugging and raping two women.
Grant William Robicheaux, 38, and Cerissa Laura Riley, 31, were arrested on 12 September and hit with several sexual assault and drug charges after two unnamed women came forward.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said around 50 calls regarding the couple and alleged abuse had come in following his press conference on Tuesday.
“We have more than 12 credible victims, or credible potential victims,” said Mr Rackauckas.
The prosecutor said there was a possibility of new charges being filed but he would not predict whether the two, who are currently both free on $100,000 bail, could be rearrested in the coming days.
Michelle Van Der Linden, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, said the potential additional victims were “in California and beyond”. One of the potential victims is a male, she revealed, but did not provide any details about allegations made.
The prosecutor’s office also said it appeared the couple may have contacted potential victims using social media and dating apps like Bumble.
Mr Robicheaux – an orthopaedic surgeon from Newport Beach – once appeared on a reality show called Online Dating Rituals of the American Male.
He and Ms Riley have been charged with rape by use of drugs, oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance, and other crimes.
Prosecutors said the two alleged victims met the pair socially in 2016 on different occasions in Newport Beach, became intoxicated and ended up at Mr Robicheaux’s apartment where, they claim, they were sexually assaulted.
Rackauckas said on Tuesday that hundreds of videos taken from the defendants’ phones suggest there could be many more alleged victims.
California’s medical board has opened its own investigation into Mr Robicheaux, but there is yet no evidence his surgical patients could be victims of sexual assault.
NewportCare Medical Group, where Robicheaux worked as an orthopaedic surgeon, told USA Today that he is “no longer with us”.
Mr Robicheaux and Ms Riley deny the allegations, according to a statement from their attorneys, who said they were “eager” to face the spotlight of a trial.
“All allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Grant Robicheaux and his girlfriend Cerissa Riley,” the statement said. “They have been aware of these accusations for a number of months, and each of them will formally deny the truth of these allegations at their first opportunity in court.
“Dr Robicheaux and Ms Riley believe that such allegations do a disservice to, and dangerously undermine, the true victims of sexual assault, and they are eager to have the proper spotlight shed on this case in a public trial.”
Additional reporting by agencies
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