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LOS ANGELES — A California surgeon who once appeared on a reality TV dating show and a female friend have been charged with drugging and raping two women — and investigators believe the couple could have “thousands” of more victims, police said Tuesday.
On April 10, 2016, Dr. Grant William Robicheaux, 38, and Cerissa Laura Riley, 31, are accused of taking a 32-year-old woman they met at a Newport Beach restaurant to a party, then “escorting her to Robicheaux’s apartment once she was intoxicated,” where they drugged and raped her, said Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.
A few months later, on October 2, 2016, Robicheaux and Riley allegedly drank with a woman at a Newport Beach bar until she became unconscious and then they sexually assaulted her with the intention of raping her, a statement from the district attorney said.
The first victim reported the incident to police the next day and tested positive for multiple drugs, the statement said. The second victim screamed after she gained consciousness, and a neighbor called the Newport Beach Police Department.
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The pair were charged on Sept. 11 with rape by use of drugs, oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance, assault with intent to commit sexual offense and possession of a controlled substance for sale. They were both charged on Sept. 11 and are set to be arraigned on Oct. 25.
Investigators on Tuesday released information in the case to notify the public that they are looking for additional victims.
“In the materials we’ve seized there are thousands and thousands of videos and images in Robicheaux’s phone, many also including Riley. Which we’re now meticulously going through.” Rackauckas said at a news conference.
“The women in the videos appear to be highly intoxicated, beyond the ability to consent or resist,” he added.
Robicheaux, who worked at NewportCare, was also charged with possessing two illegal, unregistered assault rifles, four other guns, and several large capacity magazines, officials said.
The weapons were found when police searched home in early 2018 and found “large quantities of illegal drugs,” according to the district attorney’s office.
Attorneys representing the pair said in a statement to NBC Los Angeles that “all allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied” by Robicheaux and Riley.
“Dr. Robicheaux and Ms. Riley believe that such allegations do a disservice to, and dangerously undermine, the true victims of sexual assault, and they are eager to have the proper spotlight shed on this case in a public trial,” attorneys Philip Cohen and Scott Borthwick said in a statement on their behalf.
The attorneys also said that none of the allegations relate to Robicheaux’s practice or patients
The doctor had appeared on a Bravo reality TV series called “Online Dating Rituals of the American Male” in 2014. The episode he was featured in was titled “Three’s a Crowd.”
Blankstein reported from Los Angeles, Fieldstadt reported from New York