3 More Potential Victims Come Forward With Claims Against Newport Beach Surgeon
NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA) – Three more potential victims have come forward with allegations against a Newport Beach orthopedic surgeon and his girlfriend, who are charged with drugging and sexually assaulting two women but are suspected of scores of similar crimes, authorities said Wednesday.
Grant William Robicheaux, 38, of Newport Beach, and Cerissa Laura Riley, 31, of Brea, are charged with rape by use of drugs, oral copulation by a controlled substance, assault with the intent to commit a sex offense and possession of a controlled substance for sale.
RELATED: Newport Beach Surgeon, Girlfriend Accused Of Drugging, Raping Women
Robicheaux, who was on Bravo's show "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male" in 2014, also faces charges with two counts of possession of an assault weapon.
When Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced charges against Robicheaux and Riley on Monday, he called on anyone who believes they may have been a victim to come forward.
Rackauckas added Robicheaux and Riley would meet their victims at local bars and restaurants, drug them and then take them home and sexually assault them.
Investigators have been contacted by three women, said Michelle Van Der Linden, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office. One woman alleged she was victimized in Las Vegas and another said her alleged encounter with the physician occurred in Manhattan, where Robicheaux studied at New York University Hospital.
"Calls are continuing to flow in and investigators are very busy," Van Der Linden said this afternoon.
The defendants' attorneys on Tuesday issued a joint statement flatly denying the allegations.
A woman who said she met Robicheaux less than a year ago through the online dating site Tinder told reporters in Orange County that the onetime reality TV personality made unwanted sexual advances toward her. Though she was not assaulted or victimized, the encounter left her shaken, Lauren Hayden said.
"He's so good-looking, he could consensually have sex with these women," Hayden said. "People think that rape is about sex. This just goes to show it's not. It's about power. This man is obsessed with power. He's disgusting. He's deplorable. Like, he's a monster. He's a monster. And it makes it scary to go out. I don't know how he can function in society. He shouldn't be in society. He has no remorse."
In the two cases that have resulted in criminal charges, prosecutors contend the pair met one victim at a Newport Beach bar and another at a restaurant, drugged them, lured them to Robicheaux's apartment and sexually assaulted them.
One woman who met the couple on April 10, 2016, said they took her to a party and then to the doctor's apartment once she got intoxicated, Rackauckas said. The other alleged victim said she became intoxicated and passed out at a bar on Oct. 2, 2016, and was taken to Robicheaux's apartment, where she was assaulted, the district attorney said.
Riley introduced herself to the two alleged victims and then brought them over to meet Robicheaux, according to Rackauckas, who said the drugs they are accused of using include Ecstasy, date rape drugs and cocaine.
They are not believed to have used medical anesthetic-type of drugs, he said.
Investigators believe there may be a host of other victims. Rackauckas said investigators recovered more than 1,000 videos of alleged assaults from Robicheaux's cell phone, and many of the women "appear to be highly intoxicated" and have not been identified.
The defendants were known to attend festivals dating back to 2015, including Burning Man in Black Rock Desert, Nevada; Dirtybird Campout festival in Silverado; Splash House festival in Palm Springs; and Landmarks near Page, Arizona, Rackauckas said.
Robicheaux appeared on a Bravo reality TV series called "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male" in 2014, in an episode titled "Three's a Crowd."
He earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at Louisiana State University, graduating in 2007, and did his residency at UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange.
Robicheaux was employed as a surgeon at NewportCare Medical Group, but was been removed from the company's website on Tuesday.
Riley is an aspiring educator who worked occasionally as a substitute teacher in Fullerton, Senior Deputy District Attorney Michael Carroll said.
Newport Beach police submitted the results of their investigation to prosecutors Sept. 6, and the defendants were arrested Sept. 12. They are both free on $100,000 bonds and are due to be arraigned Oct. 25 at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.
Anyone who believes they were victimized was encouraged to call police at 714-347-8794.
