Adult film star Ron Jeremy has been indicted by a grand jury on more than 30 counts of sexual assault. The porn star has been accused of sexually assaulting 21 women and girls over a span of more than two decades.
Jeremy, whose real name is Ronald Jeremy Hyatt, appeared in front of a Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday and denied all of the allegations. He pleaded not guilty to the sexual assault charge, which includes 12 counts of rape.
The indictment covered alleged sexual assaults done by Jeremy from 1996 to 2019. His victims were aged between 15 and 51. The sexual assault allegations are similar to the ones filed against him last year, which he had also denied.
To avoid a public preliminary hearing on the evidence, prosecutors used grand jury proceedings to immediately get an indictment against Jeremy, which will replace the original charges filed against him. A similar move was used by prosecutors against Harvey Weinstein in the past.
Jeremy's attorney, Stuart Goldfarb said his client maintains his innocence and is once again pleaded not guilty to the charges. Jeremy was first arrested in June 2020 over similar charges. He has since been detained in jail on a $6.6 million bail.
The sexual assault counts included allegations that Jeremy had sexually molested and raped a 19-year-old girl during a photoshoot in 1996. He was also accused of raping a 26-year-old woman at a nightclub in 2003 and a raping 17-year-old girl in 2008. The youngest victim was a 15-year-old, who Jeremy, allegedly, sexually assaulted in 2004.
Jeremy is set to appear in court once again in October for a pretrial hearing. The date of his actual trial has yet to be determined.
Jeremy, who was also known as "The Hedgehog" in the porn industry, was one of its most prolific performers. He worked as a porn actor for several decades and has appeared in hundreds of pornographic films and shows since the 1970s. After he retired from the porn industry, Jeremy made regular appearances in mainstream movies and on several reality television shows.
Accusations against Jeremy began to surface in late 2017 at the height of the "MeToo" movement. He is only one of a few men being investigated by the new task force set up by the district attorney's office tasked with taking down sexual abusers in the entertainment industry.
