International - India & World   

Fashion designer pleads not guilty to new charges

BEVERLY HILLS (California): Celebrity fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 13 new charges of sexual assault after at least six more women and girls accused him of abuse.

Alexander, who has dressed starlets like Paris Hilton, is accused of meeting women on the Internet and assaulting them when they visited him for modelling opportunities between 2002 and 2007.

His defence has claimed some of the women made the allegations to seek fame.

At least 18 women and girls, ranging in age from 14 to 27, have made the complaints.

He now faces more than 40 felony and misdemeanour counts of sexual assault that include rape, sexual battery and committing a lewd act on a child, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

He has pleaded not guilty to all previous charges and could face life in prison if convicted on all counts.

Free on bail

He is free on bail after being arrested in March. — AP

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Call for sectarian unity after shrine attack
"West bullying Sri Lanka"
A U.S. rethink on support to Musharraf?
E.U. to share data to combat crime
MP killed in Beirut blast
Peres elected Israeli President
China launches pilot reforms in all sectors in two cities
Space station gets a new set of solar wings
The case of a President's vanishing watch
Banks indicted in Parmalat collapse
Chinese demarches to 4 nations
Fashion designer pleads not guilty to new charges

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu