According to an e-mail obtained by The Times, adult film legend Ron Jeremy will be declared incompetent to stand trial on multiple charges of rape.
Ronald Hyatt, also known as Jeremy, was charged with raping four women he met in West Hollywood bars and clubs. Dozens of women came forward to claim that Jeremy had abused them for decades at parties, adult film conventions or on movie sets.
The 69-year-old Jeremy was indicted on more than 30 counts of sexual assault stemming from allegations made by 20 women with some of his alleged crimes dating back to the 1990s. Stuart Goldfarb, Jeremy's defense attorney, walked into a Los Angeles courtroom and said his client didn't know who he was.
The Times obtained an e-mail from the L.A. county deputy district. There is an atty. According to Paul Thompson, mental health experts were called on by both prosecutors and Jeremy's defense team to determine if he was faking his symptoms.
He will be declared incompetent to stand trial as a result of the experts agreeing. We can't try him for his crimes if he doesn't improve. We can't get a guilty plea from him because criminal proceedings are suspended if he's incompetent.
Thompson and Goldfarb didn't say anything. Thompson said in the email that Jeremy will be declared incompetent to aid in his own defense on January 17th.
Jeremy is unlikely to recover from dementia, which is a progressive and degenerative illness from which he is unlikely to recover.
The experts' conclusion was based on a review of medical documents and interviews with Jeremy, his relatives and several of the Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies who interacted with him while in custody. Thompson wrote in the e-mail that some of Jeremy's relatives suspected he had dementia before he was arrested.
Jeremy is likely to be placed in a hospital.
Lianne Young, a former British adult film star who first publicly accused Jeremy of assault in an interview with The Times in 2020, said she was frustrated to learn that Jeremy had dementia before he was charged.
She said she was kind of numb. Before getting us all involved, they knew of his condition. I'm very disappointed that they didn't solve that part before we were allowed to go on that emotional journey for two and a half years.
Greg Risling said prosecutors were unaware of the severity of Jeremy's illness at the time charges were brought.
"Although his attorney expressed some concern for his declining faculties, we believed him to be competent at the time of filing based on interviews we conducted with him," Risling said. At the time of filing, there was no record of him having a dementia diagnosis.
Young said that Jeremy pushed her against a table and forced himself into her at an industry party at the former House of Blues on the Sunset Strip in 2000. According to Young, the encounter only lasted a short time. After speaking with The Times, she said she was contacted by investigators and called to testify against Jeremy.
Young believes that the discussion about sexual abuse in the adult film industry was sparked by the allegations against Jeremy. She's worried that Jeremy may be acquitted in the eyes of his fans if he's not convicted.
She said that public opinion has looked at Ron like a god. It could be a sign that other people can get away with crimes like that.
The story was originally published in the LA Times.
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