Ron Jeremy to be Declared Unfit for Sexual Assault Trial Due to Dementia

Former porn star Ron Jeremy, who was indicted on more than 30 counts of sexual assault, is set to be declared unfit for trial on Tuesday, because he is suffering from “severe dementia.”

Jeremy, whose legal name is Ronald Hyatt, was indicted on more than 30 counts of sexual assault stemming from allegations made by 20 women. He was first charged in June 2020 with raping four women he met in West Hollywood bars and clubs. After that, dozens of more women came forward with their own allegations, some of them dating back to the 1990s.

But just weeks before Jeremey’s trial, which was supposed to start last year, his defense attorney, Stuart Goldfarb, told a Los Angeles courtroom that the onetime porn king no longer recognized him, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.

L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson said in an email obtained by the outlet earlier this month that mental health experts called on by both the prosecutors and Jeremy’s defense team have concluded the former porn actor suffers from severe dementia.

“As a result of the agreement of the experts, the defendant will be declared incompetent to stand trial — his prognosis for improvement is not good,” Thompson wrote.

“If he does not improve, we will not be able to try him for his crimes. Because criminal proceedings are suspended as long as he is incompetent, we also cannot get a guilty plea from him or discuss other measures to get justice for the victims in this case,” Thompson added.

The mental health professionals reached their conclusion based on medical documents and interviews with the defendant, the email noted. Once Jeremy is officially declared unfit to stand trial, he will likely be sent to a state-run hospital.

“My first reaction, I was kind of numb,” Lianne Young, a former British porn star who accused Jeremy of assaulting her, said. “They were aware of his condition before getting us all involved. They were well aware he had dementia, so I’m very disappointed that they didn’t solve that bit before letting us go on that emotional journey for two and a half years.”

A district attorney’s office spokesperson, Greg Risling, however, said prosecutors did not know of the severity of Jeremy’s condition at the time they slapped him with charges.

“Although his attorney expressed some concern for his declining faculties, we believed him to be competent at the time of filing based upon interviews we conducted with him, among other reasons,” Risling said. “We had no records at time of filing indicating that he had a dementia diagnosis.”

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