A former adult film star accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl at a party in Santa Clarita, among more than nearly three dozen charges he was facing from a 2021 grand jury indictment, will remain in L.A. County custody while he awaits another hearing, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Ron Jeremy Hyatt, 70, was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial in January, but was nearly released on house arrest earlier this month after no facility was found that would take him permanently.
After an outcry over a judge’s order that would have released him to a private residence for treatment of what’s been described as dementia, the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office requested a hearing Thursday to reassess the situation.
“(The) next court date is Thursday … at 1:30 p.m. to address Mr. Hyatt’s proposed housing situation with the court,” according to an email Tuesday from Venusse Dunn, spokeswoman for the DA’s office. “He is currently housed in county jail.”
His lawyer and longtime friend Stuart Goldfarb raised the issue of Hyatt’s mental competency when the former porn star reportedly was having difficulty recognizing his attorney while they were working on his defense.
In a January interview, Goldfarb, who has known Hyatt for more than 40 years, indicated his client’s cognitive problems have worsened since he first noticed them.
Now that Hyatt is not going to be criminally prosecuted due to the issues cited in court, the next step is a “placement hearing,” according to the DA’s office.
One of Hyatt’s alleged teenage victims had reported she was assaulted by Hyatt at a 2004 party in Santa Clarita, according to the criminal complaint against him.
An Aug. 19, 2021, indictment alleged he had more than 20 victims. Some of the cases against Hyatt ultimately were tossed due to the statute of limitations.