Local News in Brief : Talent Scout Guilty in Sexual Assaults

A Hollywood talent scout pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually assaulting two women he lured to his office through newspaper ads seeking models.

Ross Washington, 56, pleaded guilty in Superior Court to one count each of rape and rape with a foreign object. Sentencing for Washington, who remains in custody, was scheduled March 17, when he could be sent to state prison for up to 21 years.

Washington, who lived in Marina del Rey, sexually assaulted two women in his Sunset Boulevard office after attracting them with newspaper ads, Deputy Dist. Atty. Steve Sitkoff said. He raped one of the women Jan. 14, 1988, during a photography session in which he asked her to pose in bathing suits and men’s shirts, and sexually assaulted another women under similar circumstances on June 3, 1987, Sitkoff said.

Washington operated four firms out of the same Sunset Boulevard address: Ross Washington Productions, Hollywood Career Center, Ross Elite Model Management and Starmaker International. He also operated the Miss West Coast Beauty Pageant, held at the Disneyland Hotel in August, 1987.