Designer Anand Jon faces new sex assault charges

Prosecutors filed 13 new criminal charges Wednesday against a celebrity fashion designer accused of sexually assaulting women and girls.

Anand Jon now faces 27 felony and five misdemeanor counts for incidents that occurred between 2002 and 2007, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

The new charges include rape, lewd acts on a child and false imprisonment. Jon was also charged with an additional misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The 33-year-old designer was arrested March 6 and is free on $1.3-million bail. But the judge in the case imposed certain conditions, including that any model age 30 or under who works with him have a guardian present and sign a release.

The 12 accusers range in age from 14 to 23. Authorities are also investigating allegations made by six other women.

If convicted on all counts, Jon could face life in prison. Authorities in New York and Texas have also opened investigations into whether the designer assaulted women there.

Jon’s attorney, Ronald Richards, has said the designer did nothing wrong and that the accusers are models who made false allegations against Jon because he refused to employ them to the extent they wanted.

Jon is a well-known figure in the celebrity fashion world and designed clothes for Paris Hilton, Mary J. Blige and others. He was the subject of articles in magazines such as People and Star and was a judge on the show “America’s Top Model.”

He was planning to star in a reality TV show for VH1 about the fashion world co-starring his friend and “Lost” actress Michelle Rodriguez.

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com