LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles judge ruled Tuesday that porn star Ron Jeremy is mentally incompetent to stand trial on dozens of rape and sexual assault charges.
Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Harris told a hearing that after reviewing reports from both prosecutors and Jeremy’s defense, he is in an “incurable neurocognitive decline” from which there is little chances of recovery.
Prosecutors asked that it be periodically reassessed.
A hearing will be held next month on whether Jeremy, 69, whose legal name is Ronald Hyatt, should be placed in a state hospital.
Jeremy pleaded not guilty after a grand jury indicted him on 34 counts of sexual assault, including 12 counts of rape.
“When he was arrested two years ago, I said he would be found not guilty of all charges,” Jeremy’s attorney, Stuart Goldfarb, said in an email. “It’s been two years and with the subsequent discovery we got, I thought he would be found not guilty. It’s a shame, because of his mental state, that he doesn’t go to court and doesn’t have a chance to clear his name.”
Jeremy, who has remained in prison since his arrest in 2020, did not attend the hearing.
An email request for comment from the district attorney was not immediately returned.
Nicknamed “The Hedgehog”, Jeremy has been among the most famous and prolific actors in the porn industry for decades and has become a recognized pop culture sensation through reality shows, public appearances and music videos.
He has long been a magnet for autograph and selfie seekers as he first met most of the women and girls aged 15 to 51 he is accused of assaulting between 1990 and 1990. 2019.
According to transcripts of grand jury testimony from the women and girls obtained by The Associated Press, Jeremy lured them to a small, secluded space, often in the bathroom of a West Hollywood bar and grill they frequented, caught trapped and sexually assaulted them. .
The Los Angeles Times first reported that Jeremy would not face trial.
The charges came from the district attorney’s task force set up to investigate sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry after reports of Harvey Weinstein in 2017 made the #metoo movement an international phenomenon.
Jeremy was among the few men charged in the task force’s work, alongside Weinstein himself, who was convicted of rape and sexual assault in December.
Prosecutors are still deciding whether to retry Weinstein on several counts on which his jury was deadlocked. They plan to retry actor Danny Masterson on three counts of rape after his jury failed to reach a verdict last month.
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
