LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- A grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday charges adult film star Ron Jeremy with rape and other charges involving 21 alleged victims.
Jeremy -- whose real name is Ronald Jeremy Hyatt -- pleaded not guilty to 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, sodomy by use of force and assault with intent to commit rape, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors say the crimes involving alleged victims ranging in age from 15 to 51 occurred over a 23-year span dating back to 1996.
They allege that Jeremy raped a 19-year-old woman during an October 1996 photo shoot in the San Fernando Valley, a 26-year-old woman at a party in a nightclub in October 2000 and a 17-year-old girl at a Woodland Hills home in 2008.
He is also accused of sexually assaulting a young woman at a strip club in the City of Industry some time between 2002 and 2003, a 15-year-old girl in June 2004, a woman at his home in 2010 and a 38-year-old woman in January 2013 at a West Hollywood bar he frequented, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Jeremy was initially charged in January 2020 with sex-related counts involving four women, with prosecutors subsequently adding charges involving 19 other alleged victims.
The indictment involves 21 of those alleged victims. The other two alleged victims were not able to testify due to personal reasons, according to Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson.
Jeremy had been awaiting an Oct. 25 hearing to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to require him to stand trial when the grand jury handed up the indictment Monday. The indictment could speed up how fast the case goes to trial.
Jeremy was arrested in June 2020 and has remained behind bars since then in lieu of $6.6 million bail, according to jail records.
The case stemmed from a two-year investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation.
Jeremy is due back in court Oct. 12 for a pretrial hearing.
