Dozen potential victims have come forward after Newport Beach surgeon, girlfriend charged with sexual assault, DA says

SANTA ANA – More than a dozen “potential credible victims” have contacted prosecutors in the days since a well-known Newport Beach surgeon and his girlfriend were charged with drugging and raping two women, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced Friday.

Grant William Robicheaux, 38, and Cerissa Laura Riley, 31, are accused of sexually assaulting one woman in April 2016 and a second one in October 2016, each time meeting the victim in a Newport Beach restaurant or bar and bringing her back to Robicheaux’s apartment, prosecutors said.

In a news conference on Friday, Rackauckas said his office has now received more than 50 phone calls in connection to the case, including leads pointing toward another dozen-plus potential victims.

Rackauckas said one of the allegations dates back more than a decade, and some may have occurred out of state. The district attorney also said investigators now believe that Robicheaux may have met some possible victims on dating or social-media websites, not just at bars, restaurants or events.

“Once you get past the point of consent or you are unconscious, these people have no right to have sexual contact with you,” Rackauckas said of his message to potential victims. “There is nothing to be ashamed of.”

  • Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced that more women have come forward alleging sexual assault in the case against Newport Beach surgeon Dr. Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Laura Riley during a press conference at his office in Santa Ana, CA on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Orange County District Attorney’s office Chief of Staff Susan Kang Schroeder records Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer following a press conference at the OCDA’s office in Santa Ana, CA on Friday, September 21, 2018.
    The OCDA’s office was updating to case against Dr. Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Laura Riley, who are accused of drugging and raping two women in Newport Beach, to say that more potential victims have come forward.
    Spitzer alleges that the DA’s should have put out the call for victims in January, 2018 after a search warrant was carried out. The DA’s office says it got the case from Newport Beach Police earlier this month.
    Spitzer is running against the current OC District Attorney Tony Rackauckas in the November election.
    (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  • Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced that more women have come forward alleging sexual assault in the case against Newport Beach surgeon Dr. Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Laura Riley during a press conference at his office in Santa Ana, CA on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Attorneys for the couple have denied that any non-consensual sex occured. Robicheaux, a Newport Beach resident, is an orthopedic surgeon who has appeared on the Bravo television show “Online Dating Rituals of the American Male,” while Riley, a Brea resident, was once an educator.

Rackauckas, when first announcing the charges on Tuesday, noted that investigators have found thousands of images and videos of apparently intoxicated women believed to have been filmed by Robicheaux and Riley and learned the pair had traveled in recent years to large festivals across the country, leading prosecutors to suspect there could be other potential victims.

It wasn’t clear how many of the people who have contacted prosecutors are alleging sexual assault by the couple rather than just Robicheaux. Neither Robicheaux nor Riley have  been criminally charged in connection to the other potential victims, and prosecutors have not outlined a time line for when a decision will be made whether or not to file more charges.

“This is going to still take more work because we have to get more and better statements from them, we have to compare their statements to evidence in the case,” Rackauckas said. “It’s really important to keep this message out, and to let other women know if they have been victimized by this couple or this doctor to come forward.”

Newport Beach police first learned of the alleged sexual assaults in 2016. The first woman contacted police the day after her alleged encounter at Robicheaux’s apartment, while prosecutors say the second woke up at his apartment while being sexually assaulted and screamed for help, resulting in a neighbor calling 911.

According to the Newport Beach Police Department, officers didn’t initially have enough evidence in 2016 to make an arrest, but detectives kept looking into the incidents and in January carried out a search warrant at Robicheaux’s apartment that prosecutors say led to the discovery of a large quantities of drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine and illegal weapons.

Outside the DA’s Office in Santa Ana, following the news conference, Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who is running against incumbent Rackauckas, alleged that the DA’s Office “sat on” the case by failing to either charge the pair or put the call out for potential victims after the search warrant was carried out in January.

“The District Attorney’s Office has known about this for almost a year,” Spitzer said. “They had cash, drugs and guns, and they didn’t make an arrest or notify the public.”

DA officials have said they received the case from the Newport Beach Police Department on Sept. 6. The couple was arrested on Sept. 12, and each has been released on $100,000 bond.

22.09.2018No comments