Former adult film star Ron Jeremy is suffering from “severe dementia” and will be declared incompetent to stand trial on multiple charges of rape later this month, according to an L.A. County prosecutor in an email obtained by The Times.
Jeremy — whose legal name is Ronald Hyatt — was first charged in June 2020 with raping four women he had met in West Hollywood bars and clubs. The case quickly ballooned, as dozens of women came forward claiming the onetime porn king had been abusing women for decades at parties and adult film conventions or on movie sets.
Jeremy, 69, was later indicted on more than 30 counts of sexual assault stemming from allegations made by 20 women, with some of his alleged crimes dating to the 1990s. But weeks before Jeremy’s trial was set to begin last year, his defense attorney, Stuart Goldfarb, walked into a Los Angeles courtroom and said his client did not recognize him.
In an email obtained by The Times this week, L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Thompson said mental health experts called on by prosecutors and Jeremy’s defense team have determined he suffers from severe dementia, and there is no evidence he is faking his symptoms.
“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 and Goldfarb declined to comment Friday. Jeremy, who has denied all wrongdoing, is scheduled to appear in a Hollywood courtroom Jan. 17, when he will be formally declared incompetent to aid in his own defense, Thompson said in the email.
Although competency to stand trial is fluid — meaning a mentally incompetent defendant can later be found capable of standing trial after receiving medication or therapy over time — dementia is a progressive, degenerative illness from which Jeremy is unlikely to recover.