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LOS ANGELES - A celebrity fashion designer has been charged with rape, sexual battery and lewd acts on a minor in what prosecutors say were assaults on two women and a 15-year-old girl.
But a lawyer for Indian-born Anand Jon said today the sex was consensual and suggested the women had falsely accused his client because he did not make them famous.
"He's very distraught. He's never been in jail before," attorney Ronald Richards said.
The designer, 33, has appeared on the US TV show America's Next Top Model and was named by Newsweek magazine in its list of people to watch in 2007.
He was arrested in Beverly Hills last week and charged with rape, committing lewd acts on a child, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and other sexual offences.
He was held on US$1.3 million (US$1.9 million) bail.
Asked if his client denied the charges against him, Richards said: "Vehemently."
"I think some of them (the women) were upset that they didn't get as much exposure as they were promised in fashion industry.
"They came to his apartment, under his name, they slept with him. No one forced them to do anything," Richards said.
"They say they slept with him and then months later they (make these charges)."
Richards said the 15-year-old girl Jon is accused of molesting had lied about her age. He said Jon was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor because there was alcohol in his home when the girl was there.
"These charges sound much worse than the conduct that underlies them," he said.
According to a December profile of Jon in Newsweek, the designer has dressed such celebrities as Paris Hilton and Janet Jackson, was planning to launch a new line of jeans and was developing a reality TV show about his life.
- REUTERS
