Charges against Grant Robicheaux, known for the Bravo TV show “Online Dating Rituals of the American Male,” and his girlfriend, Cerissa Riley, were dismissed
Criminal charges against a former reality TV plastic surgeon and his girlfriend have been dismissed by a California judge. The couple — Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Riley — who in September 2018 were charged with sex crimes and accused of drugging and raping women – were told by a judge Friday that there was insufficient evidence in the case, The Orange County Register reported.
Prior to the case, Robicheaux, now 41, was known for his appearances on the Bravo TV show Online Dating Rituals of the American Male. Robicheaux and Riley, 35, have been out on $1 million bail during the proceedings.
The case had garnered international attention in the midst of a high-profile re-election campaign between then-Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Todd Spitzer, who now holds the position.
Heading into elections in the fall of 2018, Rackauckas told the press “investigators had recovered videos depicting up to 1,000 incapacitated women being sexually assaulted by Robicheaux and Riley.” He encouraged more women to come forward.
But Spitzer won the race, and ordered the case reviewed. In a press release issued by his office in the winter of 2020, the Orange County District Attorney’s office said “there was not a single video or photograph depicting an incapacitated woman being sexually assaulted by Robicheaux or Riley.” The office added: “In fact, the review revealed that there was not a single independent witness who came forward to say they saw the defendants sexually assault an unconscious woman.”
Prior to the review of the evidence, in a sworn deposition given in June 2019, Rackauckas said he had leveraged the case to bolster his re-election campaign.
The couple have long denied the sex crime charges, saying in a statement issued a month after their September 2018 arrest: “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.”
Recalling life before their arrest, they noted in the statement: “We had great friends, great lives and great careers that allowed us to make positive contributions to our community. We look forward to getting our lives back.”
The state attorney general’s office is reviewing the judge’s recent decision to dismiss the sexual assault charges, The Associated Press reported.
Regardless, the couple – who still have drug charges pending – have not seen the last of a courtroom and are set to return July 19. Robicheaux is additionally charged with possessing an assault weapon, The Associated Press reported. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.