This week, a Californian orthopedic surgeon, Grant Robicheaux, and his girlfriend, Cerissa Riley, were arrested on the charge of “rape by drugs, oral copulation by anesthesia and assault with intent to commit sexual offenses.” Robicheaux and Riley used charm and their good looks to lure women into spending time with them before drugging, committing such heinous crimes and then videoing them.
In 2013, Orange Coast Magazine named Robicheaux “Bachelor of the Year,” and in 2014, he appeared on a short-lived Bravo reality show called “Online Dating Rituals of the American Male” where he went out with a woman who described their time together as “too perfect” and even went on to say that “there might be some dark skeletons in that closet.” While not too much is known about Riley, it is known that she was trying to get her teaching credentials in physical education.
In 2016, the two alleged victims came forward to the police. The first crime happened in Newport Beach, California, where the couple used their physical appearances to charm a woman into partying with them on a boat before they drugged her and took her back to Robicheaux’s apartment and raped her. The second crime also happened in Newport Beach, where the couple drank copious amounts of alcohol — clearly trying to get their second victim drunk enough to the point where she would either be unconscious or drunk enough to not remember what happened — before raping her. The second victim woke up in Robicheaux’s apartment and apparently screamed so loudly that the neighbors called the police.
This situation as a whole is eerie because two seemingly normal people were able to use their good looks to lure women into spending time with them. However, unfortunately this seems to be much more popular these days, especially with date-rape drugs — at frat parties and clubs — and other ways that have been created to hinder people from consenting to sexual intercourse. In January, police finally had enough evidence to get a search warrant to investigate Robicheaux’s apartment, where they found two unregistered assault rifles, date-rape drugs, cocaine and ecstasy.
The most frustrating part of this investigation is that the couple doesn’t seem sorry for their actions in their mugshots. Both look more upset that they got caught. In addition, the couple denies that they have committed any of these crimes, even though there is video evidence — nearly 1,000 videos to be exact — where it appears that they did, in fact, do it.
Moreover, the couple is adamant that they haven’t committed any of the crimes, and that these accusations take away from cases of victims of “true victims of sexual assault.”
Hopefully both Robicheaux and Riley will be convicted of these crimes so no more women will have to go through the lifetime of trauma that comes with being sexually assaulted. While the crimes have no known association with his medical practice, if Robicheaux is convicted, he will face up to 40 years in prison, and Riley will face up to 30 years and 8 months.
It is unfortunate that Robicheaux is a doctor, because people tend to put their trust in people whose job it is to take care of you. This is not to say that it is the victims’ fault by any means. We have all heard of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but as Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said, “a wolf can wear scrubs.”
