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Sexual assault probe of California
physician, girlfriend expands
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 [September 22, 2018]
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - At least a dozen
more women have come forward with allegations against a California
surgeon and reality TV personality arrested last week with his
girlfriend on charges of drugging and raping two women, the Orange
County prosecutor said on Friday.
Grant Robicheaux, 38, and Cerissa Riley, 31, were arrested last week on
charges of rape by use of drugs, oral copulation by a controlled
substance, and sexual assault involving two women - one who the couple
allegedly met at a Newport Beach bar and the other at a restaurant.
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said at a news conference his office
is widening its probe of Robicheaux, a one-time subject of the Bravo
cable network show "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male," and
Riley.
"We're expanding our inquiries to several states as well as other parts
of California," he said, adding that in the case of Robicheaux,
investigators are examining possible crimes dating back 20 years.
Robicheaux's lawyer, Philip Cohen, told his own news conference the
couple had been aware they were under investigation since January and
made no attempt to flee or go into hiding. Cohen and two other defense
lawyers said the couple, each of whom remains free on $100,000 bond,
would contest the charges in court.
Rackauckas said Robicheaux, an orthopedic surgeon, "may have targeted
victims through dating apps such as Tinder and Bumble," but there was no
evidence to suggest any of his medical patients were victimized.
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Dr. Grant Robicheaux, 38, appears in a booking photo provided by the
Newport Beach Police Department, September 19, 2018. Newport Beach
Police Department/Handout via REUTERS
Since news of the Sept. 12 arrests broke, investigators have fielded
more than 50 phone calls to a tip line that led to more than 12
"credible leads" to potential additional victims, Rackauckas said.
A search of the doctor's home turned up hundreds of videos and
photographs depicting women who appeared to be too intoxicated to
consent to sexual advances and in some cases were barely responsive,
the prosecutor had said previously.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
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