Adult film star Ron Jeremy is indicted for rape and other sexual assault charges

(CNN) – Porn star Ron Jeremy has been indicted for more than 30 counts of sexual assault involving 21 women in the past two decades, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Jeremy, whose legal last name is Hyatt, is charged with sexually assaulting women over a 23-year period between 1996 and 2019, according to the district attorney’s office. The victims are between 15 and 51 years old.

Jeremy has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of forcible rape, seven counts of forced oral intercourse, six counts of restrained sexual assault, four counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object, two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious or sleeping person, and one count lewd act on a 14- or 15-year-old minor, sodomy by use of force and assault with the intent to commit a rape, the district attorney’s office said.

“His position is the same (as) when the criminal complaint was filed,” Jeremy’s attorney, Stuart Goldfarb, said in a statement to CNN. “He is innocent of all charges.”

A grand jury returned the indictment on August 19 and it was opened on Wednesday. It comes nearly a year after Jeremy was charged with more than 30 counts of sexual assault.

Jeremy’s case was presented to a grand jury to avoid a public preliminary hearing in which witnesses would have to testify in open court, similar to the case of media mogul Harvey Weinstein.

“Too often, survivors of sexual assault suffer in isolation,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “We must ensure that survivors have all options available to assist with recovery, including trauma-informed services for healing and support in reporting such crimes.”

According to online jail records, Jeremy remains in the Twin Towers Correctional Center in Los Angeles on $ 6.6 million bond.

Jeremy, 68, is expected to return to court on October 12 for a pretrial conference.

Jeremy is considered one of the icons of the adult entertainment industry. It was the subject of the 2001 documentary “Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy.”