NRI Anand Jon fashion designer faces 25 felony and misdemeanor charges- Trial Started

Los Angles, Sep. 13, 2008
Ashok Mehta

NRI, Anand Jon Alexander, 34, Celebrity fashion designer faces 25 felony and misdemeanor charges. These charges include rape and other sexual assault charges.

On Aug. 27, Judge David Wesley removed 30 counts involving 10 victims from the original 59 count indictment as a result of a motion filed by prosecutors.

On Sep. 12, Friday, the trial began in a Los Angeles courtroom, Anand Jon in a pinstriped Ralph Lauren suit sat quietly. The prosecutors played a homemade videotape that showed him asking a 17-year-old to strip before sexually abusing her.

The prosecutors said:

• Anand Jon was in reality a "serial rapist"
• He loves young girls and humiliate them through painful sexual acts
• He exploited his position in the glamour industry to lure young aspiring models to his Beverly Hills apartment.
• Eight other women, as young as 14, whom Jon is charged with attacking.

Anand Jon Alexander's defense attorney Leonard Levine said he's the victim of false accusations and overzealous investigators.

Few minutes before the opening statements, Superior Court Judge David S. Wesley granted a prosecution request to dismiss four more counts. Prosecutors declined to explain the reason for the dismissals.

Leonard Levine defense attorney said:

• It showed the weakness of the evidence against Jon and It's totally falling apart
• Some of the women, including the girl shown in the video, told Jon they were 18.
• Some of the others didn't have sex with him or, if they did, did so willingly.
• Some of the alleged victims, continued to contact Jon after prosecutors say they were assaulted.
• Investigators also badgered women to come forward as victims, including some who had adamantly denied being assaulted.
• Many of the alleged victims didn't need to be lured to meet Jon because they were already drawn to his celebrity status.
• The women had consensual sex with him in the hopes he would help them realize their dreams to become models.
• Everyone wanted to be with Anand. For weeks, for months, for years, everyone said they were fine-- until they were given a chance to tear the celebrity down.
• The brag list of sexual conquests- only went up to the year 2000 and did not include the women prosecutors allege were assaulted.

Levine told juror, when Jon didn't deliver on their dreams, they turned on him. "Ask yourself: Did they act consistently with someone who was violently sexually assaulted?"

If convicted, Anand Jon may faces up to 122 years of life imprisonment

NRI Anand Jon, World's Top Fashion Designer