A Newport Beach surgeon and his girlfriend, once accused in a headline-grabbing case of drugging and sexually assaulting seven women, are seeking unspecified damages from the county of Orange.
While the sex charges were dropped or dismissed against Dr. Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Riley, the legal costs and the flood of bad publicity damaged them financially and torpedoed Robicheaux’s medical career, according to separate but similar liability claims filed by the two on Dec. 19.
Robicheaux lost his Balboa Peninsula home and voluntarily allowed his medical license to be suspended. He now lives in an RV with Riley.
The claims, considered precursors to lawsuits, alleged the publicity-generating criminal charges were filed to “improperly influence” then-Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas’ failed reelection bid in 2018.
False and misleading statements, including that the doctor and his girlfriend assaulted as many as 1,000 women they met at Newport Beach night spots, were lodged by the prosecution team, said Robicheaux’s claim, submitted by attorney Thomas M. Ferlauto.
“None of that was true,” the claim said. “However, the local, national and international media picked up the story, leading to a media feeding frenzy in which claimant was characterized as a voracious rapist.”
Prosecutors labeled the two as predators, while defense attorneys said they were guilty of nothing more than swinging.
Among those specifically named in the claim were Rackauckas and his...
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