Woman Names Luster in Civil Suit

A Ventura woman is suing wealthy rape suspect Andrew Luster for allegedly drugging her five years ago and performing sex acts on her while she was unconscious.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages for rape, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

On Thursday, a judge postponed the case until after Luster’s criminal trial on charges that he raped women at his Mussel Shoals home between 1996 and 2000.

Luster, the great-grandson of cosmetics magnate Max Factor, faces 87 counts of rape, sodomy, sexual assault, oral copulation, poisoning and drug possession. His trial is set for Oct. 29.

The civil lawsuit against 37-year-old Luster was filed by Tonja Doe, a pseudonym for one of the two alleged victims in the criminal case. It alleges that Luster gave her the drug gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, in October 1996 and forced sex with her while she was unconscious.

The lawsuit states that Tonja first learned Luster had performed sex acts on her last July when Ventura County Sheriff’s Department deputies told her they had a videotape of the assault.

The suit seeks damages for humiliation, mental anguish and suffering, as well as costs for unspecified medical care.

Luster was arrested last year after another woman reported she was drugged and raped by him after meeting him at a bar in downtown Santa Barbara. Authorities found videotapes showing Luster engaged in sex acts with other women during a search of his home.

Last month, Tonja Doe testified at Luster’s preliminary hearing that she met him at a Santa Barbara bar in October 1996 and began a relationship with him. But the romance ended after about three months.

During the hearing, prosecutors showed a 30-minute videotape of Luster having sex with Tonja while she appeared to be sleeping. Based on the clothes she was wearing, Tonja testified, the incident appeared to have occurred the night they first met.

“I hate him,” she said after viewing the tape. “I just can’t believe he’d do this to me.”

On Thursday, Joel Isaacson, Luster’s criminal defense lawyer, said he was not surprised by the civil lawsuit. He said it shows Tonja’s motives in the criminal case.

“It gives her a financial interest in the outcome,” Isaacson said. “I can say we were anticipating it.”