Ron Jeremy’s serial rape case was suspended this week, after the jailed porn star was asked to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

       The 69-year-old, whose legal name is Ronald Jeremy Hyatt, was indicted in August last year on 34 counts of sexual assault, with the charges dating as far back as 1996.

       The ages of his 21 alleged victims range from as young as 15, to 51. Jeremy has pleaded not guilty.

       On Thursday 17 March, a critical hearing in the case was suspended after he was reportedly unable to recognise his own lawyer.

       “I was just up in the cell where he was being kept, and I tried to get his attention unsuccessfully,” his defense lawyer Stuart Goldfarb told the court, via US media reports.

       “He was unable to determine who I was and wouldn’t accommodate both myself and the bailiff to fit into the wheelchair to come down here. I don’t think he should be forced to come down here under these circumstances.”

       Judge George Lomeli stated that the bailiff had also described Jeremy as “incoherent” and “not obeying commands”, before announcing his decision to suspend proceedings. The case has now been referred to a mental health courthouse for a hearing on 1 April, with Jeremy scheduled to return to the criminal courtroom on 19 April.

       Jeremy allegedly exploited the novelty of his celebrity to meet and often isolate the women he raped and sexually assaulted, using the same tactics for years, according to grand jury testimony from 21 women that was unsealed last September.

       The disgraced pornography actor Ron Jeremy

       (BBC)

       “Wouldn’t it be funny if we got a picture and an autograph from him?” one woman, identified only as Jane Doe 8, said she remembered telling her friend when they saw Jeremy in 2013 at a West Hollywood bar and grill. He would sexually assault her minutes later, the woman testified. Several women claimed the attacks took place in the restaurant’s bathroom.

       The hearing on 17 March was supposed to address Jeremy’s request to have the case separated into 21 individual trials, Rolling Stone reports. However, prosecutors have opposed the motion, arguing that the offences he is charged with involve the same class of crime.

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       The judge declined to hear further arguments pending Jeremy’s mental health evaluation.

       If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.