Prosecutors filed more charges Wednesday against a Southern California surgeon and his girlfriend who are accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women.
Dr. Grant William Robicheaux, 38, was charged with sexually assaulting five additional people, bringing the total number of alleged victims to seven, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.
Robicheaux’s girlfriend, Cerissa Laura Riley, 31, was charged in three of those additional assaults, the district attorney’s office said, and they both were charged with several counts of kidnapping to commit rape.
Both previously had been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting two women in 2016.
"It's very hard to say how many more there might be," Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas told reporters outside of court after Wednesday's arraignment.
He said seized videos appeared to show women that "the defendants were having sexual contact with, where it appeared that they probably couldn't consent," and he encouraged anyone else with information to come forward.
Robicheaux and Riley pleaded not guilty to the new charges Wednesday, and a judge increased bail for each of them from $100,000 to $1 million, Rackauckas said. They are free on bail.
Attorneys for Robicheaux and Riley have said they deny any non-consensual sex took place.
The new charges stem from alleged incidents from September 2009 through July 2017, according to the district attorney’s office.
Robicheaux is now charged with three counts of kidnapping with the intent to commit a sexual offense; four counts of rape by use of drugs; two counts of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense; and one count each of forcible rape and oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance.
He is also charged with four counts of possession of a controlled substance and two counts of possession of an assault weapon, according to the district attorney.
Riley is charged with three counts of kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual offense; three counts of rape by use of drugs; two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual offense; one count of oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance; and four counts of possession of a controlled substance.
In the 2009 incident, Robicheaux is accused of raping a woman he went on a few dates with; in the March 2015 case, Robicheaux and Riley are accused of raping a woman who was unable to resist because of intoxicating and controlled substances; and in October 2016, they allegedly put the drug GHB in a woman’s drink and sexually assaulting her when she was intoxicated and unable to resist, according to the district attorney's office.
In April 2017, Robicheaux allegedly went on a date with a woman he met through a dating app, and Riley showed up and pretended to be his friend. They went to a bar where the woman became extremely intoxicated, and they allegedly took her to the Robicheaux's home, where they sexually assaulted her.
In July 2017, they allegedly met a woman at a Fourth of July party and invited her to Robicheaux’s house, where he allegedly raped her when she was unable to resist, prosecutors say.
Robicheaux and Riley were first charged in September for alleged sexual offenses that occurred in April and October 2016, authorities have said.
Robicheaux appeared in 2014 on a Bravo reality TV series called "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male."
His attorney, Philip Cohen, said the surgeon left for two pre-planned trips out of the country after the January search of his home, in which hard drives, computers and other electronics were seized. But Robicheaux returned from both those trips, Cohen said.
"It was the actions of somebody who believes and knows that the allegations that have been thrown out there are not true," Cohen said outside of court.
Robicheaux and Riley stood next to Cohen and held hands but did not speak.
"It has been our position from day one that all sex with all named victims, unnamed victims — it is Grant and Cerissa's absolute position that no non-consensual sex ever took place," Cohen said.
Robicheaux and Riley said in a statement Wednesday that they deny the allegations.
"We have and will continue to stay here to clear our names we worked hard to establish," they said.
"We unequivocally deny all allegations of non-consensual sex and absolutely deny any allegations that we have ever secretly drugged anyone for the purpose of having sex with them," they continued. "We have both passed polygraph tests on each of the questions and we look forward to the truth coming out."
