By Canadian Press

Adult film star Ron Jeremy pleads not guilty to 3 rapes

Jun 26, 2020 | 4:16 PM

LOS ANGELES — Adult film star Ron Jeremy pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of raping three women and sexually assaulting a fourth.

Jeremy, 67, whose real name is Ronald Jeremy Hyatt, entered the plea at his arraignment in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom to three counts each of forcible rape and forcible penetration by a foreign object and one count each of forcible oral copulation and sexual battery.

Jeremy wore an orange jail jumpsuit and face mask inside a glass enclosure where in-custody defendants appear in court.

He was being held in a county jail on $6.6 million bail, a figure a judge declined to reduce Friday. He was told to return to court for a hearing on Aug. 31.

Jeremy previously denied the allegations through his lawyer Stuart Goldfarb. Jeremy was arrested Tuesday and has had an initial court appearance.

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Prosecutors allege Jeremy raped a 25-year-old woman at a West Hollywood home in May 2014, sexually assaulted a 33-year-old woman and a 46-year-old woman in separate incidents at a West Hollywood bar in 2017, and raped a 30-year-old woman at the same bar in July of last year.

If convicted of all the counts he could face 90 years in prison.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives had been investigating Jeremy for two years, and presented the case to prosecutors on Monday.

Jeremy, nicknamed “The Hedgehog,” is among the best known and most prolific actors in the history of the adult film industry, with thousands of credits to his name, along with appearances in more mainstream entertainments like music videos and the reality television series The Surreal Life.

The counts make Jeremy the third man to be charged, along with Harvey Weinstein and producer David Guillod, by a task force formed by District Attorney Jackie Lacey in 2017 to investigate sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry. Guillod has also pleaded not guilty. Weinstein is in prison in New York and has not been arraigned in Los Angeles, but has repeatedly denied engaging in any nonconsensual sexual acts.

The Associated Press