Mar 14, 2007 9:50 am US/Pacific
Celebrity Fashion Designer Charged With Rape
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
-
-
The Indian-born designer, who goes by the name Anand Jon, was arrested at his Beverly Hills apartment on March 6 after a woman alleged that he raped her. Police say additional evidence led investigators to other alleged victims.
Mark Mainz/Getty Images
A celebrated young fashion designer was in custody Wednesday after he was charged with rape and committing a lewd act upon a child in connection with a series of alleged sexual assaults dating back to 2004.
Anand Jon was arrested in Beverly Hills March 6, held by the Beverly Hills Police Department and transferred Tuesday to the Men's Central Jail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Bail for the 33-year-old designer, whose last name appears on the charge sheet as Alexander, was set at $3.65 million, authorities said.
But in addition to the bail requirements, the India-born, New York-based designer is subject to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Tuesday charged Jon with two counts each of forcible rape and committing a lewd act upon a child and one count each of sexual battery by restraint, attempted forcible oral copulation and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to documents obtained by the celebrity-news Web site TMZ.com, which first reported the arrest.
The crimes are alleged to have occurred between October 2004 and March 5.
Although prosecutors have charged Jon with assaulting three people, detectives are aware of a fourth victim, another juvenile, Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mitch McCann told The Times.
Jon's attorney, Ronald Richards, told The Times the allegations were fabrications by models who believed they weren't getting the work they had expected from the designer.
"In these cases, what is going on here is these girls fly in for model jobs after months of dialogue filled with flirtation, they have sexual interaction and if he doesn't put them in the show ... then some time later they claim they had unwanted sex," Richards told the newspaper.
Richards added that the 15-year-old told police in the arrest report that she was 17 and is on film saying she was 18. "She lied about her age," he said.
According to Jon's Web site, www.anandjon.com, he is the winner of various fashion awards including a 2002 People's Choice "Best New Designer" award and a 2002-2003 Fashion Week of the America's "International New Star" designer award. He was also a profiled designer in "America's Next Top Model" in 2003.
A recent Newsweek article quoted by The Times 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."
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Watch Today's Top Videos
SLIDESHOWS: View The Day's Top Photos
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
