As dementia and rape case progresses frozen, Ron Jeremy to be released to ‘private residence’

Former porn king Ron Jeremy is in such poor health that he will now be released to a “private residence”, less than a year after he was officially found incompetent to stand trial on more than 30 charges of sexual assault.

Jeremy, who suffers from dementia and was placed under a conservatorship earlier this year, has been incarcerated for months at the Central Men’s Jail in downtown Los Angeles, awaiting assignment to a facility state medical office. But on Friday, a judge granted a request to release the 70-year-old to a private residence where he will receive “24-hour medical care” after determining that “no medical facility would accept him ”, according to an email. -email obtained by the Times.

The email, written to victims of Jeremy’s criminal case by Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Thompson noted that Jeremy’s “condition has deteriorated to the point where he is essentially bedridden.” Thompson cited public safety concerns in opposing Jeremy’s motion for release, which was filed on Jeremy’s behalf by the county public guardian’s office but was denied, according to the email.

Thompson declined to be interviewed and Jeremy’s conservator declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Public Guardian, which is part of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, was not immediately available for comment Friday.

Jeremy’s attorney said he did not know exactly what type of “private residence” his client would be released to or what security measures, if any, that facility would have.

Jeremy was first indicted on multiple counts of sexual assault in 2020, accused of assaulting four women he met at bars on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, sometimes in restrooms. The Rainbow Room Bar & Grill is believed to be his main haunt, according to court records. The bar is currently being sued by several women for negligence regarding Jeremy’s alleged behavior.

The allegations against Jeremy grew after dozens of women contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department with accusations of groping and rape that spanned decades. Several women working in the adult film and sex work industry told The Times about assaults Jeremy allegedly committed in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago and other cities over the years.

In 2021, Jeremy was indicted on 34 criminal counts based on allegations made by 23 different women, with the oldest allegation dating back to 1996. The charges included allegations that Jeremy attacked women while they were sleeping and with foreign objects. In one case, Jeremy was accused of committing a lewd act against a 15-year-old at a party in Santa Clarita.

But proceedings against Jeremy were frozen in March 2022 when his criminal lawyer, Stu Goldfarb, told a judge his client did not recognize him. Ten months later, a judge officially found Jeremy incompetent to stand trial.

Friday’s ruling is the most humane decision for a defendant who has not been convicted and faces an irreversible decline in his health, Goldfarb said.

“He is not competent to stand trial and his guilt has not been proven, but he is charged with a serious crime. What do you do with him? » asked Goldfarb. “More importantly, how do you protect the public, and just as importantly, how do you protect their civil rights?” He is in a secure facility, so there is no risk to the public and he does not need to be incarcerated.

Jeremy denied any wrongdoing and Goldfarb maintained his client’s innocence Friday.

Tiffiny Blacknell, communications director for the district attorney’s office, said Jeremy’s attorneys say he would be physically unable to leave the residence. However, she said prosecutors “expressed concern that even if this were true, he might assault caregivers, something he allegedly attempted to do at other facilities.”

In his email, Thompson expressed his dismay at the latest step in the case to the women Jeremy allegedly assaulted.

“I feel terrible that we are here, but it is beyond our control. His mental and physical condition has rapidly deteriorated and we are left with no other choice,” he wrote. “I’m sorry we weren’t able to get full justice for you in court.”