LOS ANGELES - A celebrity fashion
designer has been charged with rape, sexual battery and lewd acts
on a minor in what prosecutors say were assaults on two women and a
15-year-old girl.
But a lawyer for Indian-born Anand Jon said on Wednesday the sex
was consensual and suggested the women had falsely accused his
client because he did not make them famous.
"He's very distraught. He's never been in jail before," attorney
Ronald Richards said.
The designer, 33, has appeared on the U.S. TV show "America's Next
Top Model" and was named by Newsweek magazine in its list of people
to watch in 2007.
He was arrested in Beverly Hills last week and charged with rape,
committing lewd acts on a child, contributing to the delinquency of
a minor and other sexual offenses.
He was held on $1.3 million bail.
Asked if his client denied the charges against him, Richards said:
"Vehemently."
"I think some of them (the women) were upset that they didn't get
as much exposure as they were promised in fashion industry.
"They came to his apartment, under his name, they slept with him.
No one forced them to do anything," Richards said. "They say they
slept with him and then months later they (make these
charges)."
Richards said the 15-year-old girl Jon is accused of molesting had
lied about her age. He said Jon was charged with contributing to
the delinquency of a minor because there was alcohol in his home
when the girl was there.
"These charges sound much worse than the conduct that underlies
them," he said.
According to a December profile of Jon in Newsweek, the designer
has dressed such celebrities as Paris Hilton and Janet Jackson, was
planning to launch a new line of jeans and was developing a reality
TV show about his life.