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LA Times
Former porn actor Ron Jeremy to be released to 'private residence' with rape case frozen, health deteriorating
James Queally
Fri, November 17, 2023 at 3:54 PM PST

Former porn king Ron Jeremy is in such poor health that he will now be released to a "private residence," less than a year after he was formally declared incompetent to stand trial on more than 30 counts of sexual assault.

Jeremy, who is suffering from dementia and was placed under a conservator earlier this year, has been in Men's Central Jail in downtown L.A. for months while awaiting assignment to a state medical facility. But on Friday, a judge granted a request to release the 70-year-old to a private residence where he will receive "round the clock medical care" after it was determined that "no medical facility will take him," according to an email obtained by The Times.

The email, written to victims in Jeremy's criminal case by Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Thompson, noted that Jeremy's "medical condition has deteriorated to the point that he is essentially bedridden." Thompson cited public safety concerns in objecting to the motion to release Jeremy, which was filed on the defendant's behalf by the county Office of the Public Guardian, but was overruled, the email said.

Thompson declined to be interviewed and Jeremy's conservator declined to comment. A spokesperson for the public guardian, which is part of the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, was not immediately available for comment Friday.

Jeremy's attorney said he did not know exactly what type of "private residence" his client would be released to or what security measures that facility would have, if any.

Jeremy was first charged with multiple counts of sexual assault in 2020, accused of attacking four women he'd met in bars along the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, sometimes in bathrooms. The Rainbow Room Bar & Grill was said to be his primary haunt, according to court records. The bar is currently being sued by several women for negligence over Jeremy's alleged behavior there.


The allegations against Jeremy ballooned after dozens of women contacted the L.A. County Sheriff's Department with accusations of groping and rape that spanned decades. Several women in the adult film and sex work industries told The Times of assaults Jeremy allegedly committed in L.A., Las Vegas, Chicago and other cities over the years.

Read more: An L.A. sheriff's deputy shot a man in the back. Two years later, the case remains open

In 2021, Jeremy was indicted on 34 criminal counts based on allegations levied by 23 different women, with the oldest allegation dating back to 1996. The counts included allegations that Jeremy attacked women while they slept and with foreign objects. In one instance, Jeremy was accused of committing a lewd act against a 15-year-old at a party in Santa Clarita.

But proceedings against Jeremy were frozen in March 2022 when his criminal defense attorney, Stu Goldfarb, told a judge his client did not recognize him. Ten months later, a judge formally declared Jeremy incompetent to stand trial.

Friday's ruling was the most humane outcome for a defendant who hasn't been convicted and faces an irreversible health decline, said Goldfarb.

"He’s not competent to go [on] trial and he’s not been proven guilty, but he's charged with a serious felony. What do you do with him?" Goldfarb said. "Most importantly, how do you protect the public, and equally as important, how do you protect his civil rights? He ends up in a facility that’s secure, so the public is not at risk and he doesn’t have to be housed in prison."

Jeremy has denied all wrongdoing, and Goldfarb maintained his client's innocence on Friday.

Tiffiny Blacknell, director of communications for the district attorney's office, said Jeremy's advocates say he would be physically incapable of leaving the residence. However, she said, prosecutors "expressed concern that even if that is true, he could assault caregivers, which he has allegedly attempted to do at other facilities."

In his email, Thompson expressed dismay over the final stage of the case to Jeremy's accusers.

"I feel very badly that this is where we are, but it is beyond our control. His mental and physical condition deteriorated rapidly, and we are left with no other options," he wrote. "I’m sorry that we couldn’t get complete justice for you in court."