Aug 27, 2008 10:57 am US/Pacific
Half The Charges For Anand Jon Alexander Stricken
LOS ANGELES
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Prosecutors announced they were striking 30 of 59 charges, not dismissing them all.
Mark Mainz/Getty Images
More than half of the criminal charges against celebrity fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander were stricken by prosecutors Wednesday, just as jury selection was set to begin in his trial for allegedly sexually assaulting teen girls and young women he lured to Los Angeles to model for him.
Prosecutors announced they were striking 30 of the 59 charges -- not
dismissing them -- meaning they will have the option of pursuing them at a later date.
The stricken charges involved 10 alleged victims aged 16-26.
The remaining 29 charges involve another 10 alleged victims aged 14-21.
No specific reason was given for the move, with prosecutors saying they
simply opted not to immediately pursue the charges.
Jury selection on the remaining 29 charges began shortly after prosecutors announced the striking of the charges.
Alexander is charged with a variety of crimes, including forcible rape, sexual battery by restraint and lewd acts upon a child.
The alleged crimes occurred between November 2002 and March of this year, according to the indictment.
Beverly Hills police began an investigation in March 2007 when a woman reported she had been sexually assaulted by Alexander at his Beverly Hills apartment.
According to the India-born, New York-based designer's Web site, he has
won numerous fashion honors, including a 2002 People's Choice award for "Best New Designer" and was named the 2002-03 Fashion Week of the Americas "International New Star."
He was a profiled designer on the TV show,"America's Next Top Model," in 2003.
Newsweek once described him as a "party boy in Miami in the 1990s ...
who as a Parsons-trained designer launched his first line at New York Fashion Week in 1999 and has gone on to dress the likes of Paris Hilton."
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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