Andrew Luster, heir to Max Factor’s cosmetics fortune and convicted rapist, was released early from prison Wednesday by a Ventura County judge.
The decision comes months after a two-judge parole panel granted Luster’s parole, according to a statement from the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
On Wednesday, the full panel of the county Board of Parole Hearings opted to reverse that decision after receiving a letter from the district attorney’s office saying the parole should be reversed because it was based on ‘significant factual inaccuracies surrounding Luster’s violations’.
“Our office firmly opposes the release of Andrew Luster,” said District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. “His heinous acts, including drugging and raping his victims, warrant a full prison sentence. During his time in state prison, Luster has continued to downplay his behavior and releasing him would be a grave injustice to survivors and a threat to society.” public safety.”
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Lustre, now 60, was convicted of 86 crimes in 2003 of drugging and raping three women. He was sentenced to 124 years in prison for the crimes, which included poisoning, rape, sodomy and oral copulation of unconscious victims, the district attorney’s office said.
The prosecutor’s statement said Luster “preyed on young women, primarily in college bars” over a four-year period when he was in his early 30s. He would drug them with gamma hydroxybutyrate, a drug banned in the United States and commonly called liquid ecstasy.
“Luster engaged in sadistic sexual abuse of their comatose bodies,” the statement said. “In two of the attacks, Luster recorded his rape and sexual abuse of the victims.”
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The crimes took place between 1996 and 2000.
The case gained national attention when Luster fled to Mexico during his trial. That was him captured months later by Duane Chapman, better known as Dog the Bounty Hunter.
