The case of a Newport Beach doctor and his girlfriend accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women may finally go to trial

• A Newport Beach doctor and his girlfriend may finally see a trial in their sex assault case.
• The couple were first accused of preying on women in the Orange County area in 2018.

An Orange County, California judge will decide next month whether a Newport Beach doctor and his girlfriend will finally go to trial on charges that they sexually assaulted women that they bought drinks for at restaurants.

A local detective testified this week that two women said Dr. Grant Robicheaux — who used to appear on the Bravo reality TV show "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male" — and his girlfriend, Cerissa Riley, supplied them with alcohol in order to sexually assault them, the Orange County Register reported. The women said they believed they had been drugged by the couple.

The case against the couple has been severely watered down since 2018, when an Orange County District Attorney brought charges against the couple, whose office painted as a "Bonnie and Clyde" team that lured women to Robicheaux's posh apartment to drug and rape them on camera.

Then-District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in a press conference at the time that investigators found "thousands" of pieces of video evidence depicting Robicheaux and Riley sexually assaulting women on the couple's phones. Rackauckas urged more victims to come forward, claiming the evidence showed there could be "hundreds" or "more than a thousand" victims.

At the time, the couple's faces were splashed across front pages and homepages. Two years later, though, the newly elected DA Todd Spitzer alleged his predecessor had "manufactured" the entire case for political gain and moved to dropped the case.

A judge denied the DA's bid to drop the case completely after attorneys for the women argued that seven women who didn't know each other had all made similar allegations against the couple, the Orange County Register reported.

The judge replaced the DA's office with the state Attorney General's office as prosecutors in the case, and then a different judge dropped charges related to two victims who no longer wanted to participate.

A third judge removed three other women from the case, leaving only two Jane Does, according to The Register.

The couple has denied that they committed any crimes and said they were swingers.

Attorney Phillip Cohen, who represents Robicheaux, has said that the couple is being unfairly prosecuted for their lifestyle.

Cohen was in court when contacted by Insider Thursday and didn't immediately return a request for comment.

The women say Grant Robicheaux bought them drinks ahead of the attempted assaults

Newport Beach police Detective Marie Gamble testified at a probable cause hearing that the first woman was out drinking and dancing with her roommate when she met Riley, who then introduced them to her boyfriend, The Register reported.

After buying them drinks, the woman said she woke up at Robicheaux's home, where he told her she "wanted this" and tried to kiss her, the Register reported from Gamble's testimony.

Police responded to the home after neighbors heard her screams and dialed 911, Gamble testified.

At first, the woman denied being sexually assaulted, but later told Gamble that she lied because she felt uncomfortable and thought the officers were laughing at her, The Register reported.

The second woman met the celebrity doctor through a dating app and told a DA investigator that she was surprised when Riley showed up on their date at Nobu Newport Beach in 2017, the investigator, Jennifer Kearns, told the court.

The woman told Kearns she had taken cocaine that Riley offered her, and then woke up later to the couple touching her and taking her shirt off in Robicheaux's bedroom, The Register reported from Kearns testimony.

Police found drugs and unregistered guns as his home, according to The Register.

Kearns is suing the DA's office, alleging that her employer is colluding with defense to dismantle the case, the LA Times reported.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Leversen will decide by July 9th whether the case against Robicheaux and Riley will go to trial.