An Orange County Superior Court judge approved prosecutors’ request on Thursday to reduce charges against a Newport Beach hand surgeon and his girlfriend accused of drugging and sexually assaulting several women.
Dr. Grant Robicheaux, 40, is known for participating in a 2014 cable docuseries by Bravo, “Online Dating Rituals of the American Male.” He had previously faced charges alleged by five women. Cerissa Riley, 34, was charged in connection with crimes against three alleged victims.
Judge Frank Ospino heard arguments from state prosecutors, attorneys for the alleged victims and defendants last Thursday before agreeing to narrow charges. One alleged victim expressed dissatisfaction with state prosecutors’ move to limit the case against Robicheaux and Riley.
She told the judge she thought the case was “a complete travesty.”
“I’ve watched other victims become exhausted, throw up their hands and walk away,” she said.
The woman said prosecutors alleged there were “holes” in her case, but accused the state of not thoroughly investigating her claims. She said she had not yet been interviewed by prosecutors about her experience with Robicheaux and Riley.
Prosecutors with the California Attorney General’s office, who took over the case after the Orange County D.A. was removed from it last year, had previously said they wanted to narrow charges to allegations put forward by just one woman, citing insufficient evidence attached to a total of seven alleged victims’ complaints. But last week, prosecutors told Ospino the state would pursue allegations made by two women instead.
The case was reassigned to state prosecutors in 2020 after another O.C. judge refused D.A. Todd Spitzer’s request to dismiss the case against Robicheaux and Riley entirely. Spitzer said the D.A.’s office had not obtained sufficient evidence prior to his election to office to properly pursue a case against the couple.
That judge suggested political tension between Spitzer and his predecessor, former D.A. Tony Rackauckas, may have contaminated the prosecution.
Now, the couple face charges alleged by only two women. Both have pleaded not guilty to the amended complaint.
Alleged victims of the couple felt both sets of prosecutors, at the state and county levels, had failed them. “There are seven victims, yet we can’t find a single prosecutor in Orange County or California to prosecute a serial rapist,” one told Ospino.