Nov 7, 2007 2:33 pm US/Pacific
Bail Set At $2.1M For Designer Accused Of Rape
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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A judge Wednesday set bail at $2.095 million for Anand Jon Alexander.
Mark Mainz/Getty Images
A judge Wednesday set bail at $2.095 million for fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander, who is charged with sexually assaulting 20 teen girls and young women he allegedly lured to Los Angeles to model for him.
Alexander had been jailed without bail since a grand jury indictment was unsealed Oct. 4, accusing him of 54 felony charges and five misdemeanor counts.
If the 33-year-old designer is able to post bail, he will have to submit to electronic monitoring and will not be able to have any contact with females under 21 or leave Los Angeles County without permission, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David S. Wesley said.
The judge warned Alexander that his bail would be revoked if he contacted any female under 21 who is not a relative. The designer said he understood.
"We think we're prepared to post this bail," one of Alexander's attorneys, Anthony Brooklier, told reporters outside court. "It may take a few days."
Brooklier said his client is "anxious to get out of jail" and "denies these charges."
The indictment, handed down Sept. 27 by a Los Angeles County grand jury, accuses Alexander of forcible rape, sexual battery by restraint and lewd acts upon a child.
He's also charged with sexual penetration by a foreign object; using a minor for sex acts; forcible and attempted forcible oral copulation; assault with intent to commit a felony; possession or control of child pornography; and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The indictment encompasses all 18 alleged victims from the 46-count criminal complaint filed earlier this year against Alexander, along with two additional ones.
Seven of the girls or young women are from California, with the remainder from eight other states and two other countries, according to the District Attorney's Office.
The alleged crimes occurred between November 2002 and March of this year, according to the indictment.
One of the women filed a lawsuit last month against Alexander and faced reporters to tell her story. Natalie Pack, 32, said she has been devastated and unable to work since she was allegedly attacked by Alexander in October 2004.
Beverly Hills police launched an investigation in March, after a woman reported she had been sexually assaulted by Alexander at his Beverly Hills apartment.
Alexander is also facing similar charges in Dallas and Houston, with another investigation under way in New York.
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."
Alexander is due back in a Los Angeles courtroom on Dec. 6 for a pretrial hearing.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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