Alleged Con Man to Stand Trial in Sex Assault Cases

Richard Alan Minsky, an alleged con man accused of preying on women across the country, was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on charges stemming from sexual assaults committed in the Los Angeles area in 1998.

After a preliminary hearing, Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor ruled Wednesday that there is enough evidence to require the 56-year-old Massachusetts native to stand trial.

Minsky is accused of randomly picking the names of women out of the phone book and calling them from the lobbies of lavish hotels in the Los Angeles area.

He would then, authorities said, pose as an attorney for a loved one facing trouble with the law, most often hit-and-run charges.

Authorities said he would tell the victim that the police would release the loved one if the witness to the hit-and-run could be persuaded not to go to the police in exchange for money and/or sexual favors.

He would then instruct the women to meet with the “witness” at various locations in Southern California, authorities said, where some of the women allegedly were assaulted.

Minsky is charged in incidents involving eight women in the Southland between June and October 1998, including four sexual assaults. He also is charged with grand theft for allegedly accepting money from some of the women.

Minsky, who was arrested in Tampa, Fla., in September 1999, is being held in lieu of $1-million bail pending arraignment April 18.

Minsky was profiled several times on “America’s Most Wanted” and another TV show, “Fox Files,” after Los Angeles police asked for help finding him in connection with the 1998 crimes.

Over the years, he has been charged at least 80 times and convicted in more than a dozen trials in five states, serving about 11 years in prison, police said.