Before appearing in a Los Angeles court on charges of sexual offences, fashion designer Anand Jon cut his long hair, which had become his trade mark for long.

The designer was in high spirits when he left jail on April 2, and also when he appeared in court.

Though the prosecution brought 13 more new charges against Jon and asked the judge to increase the bail amount to $2.345 million (about Rs 10 crore), the court declined the request.

Instead Judge Elden Fox at the Los Angeles County Superior Court placed him under the supervision of his mother Sahshi. Jon, 33, is prohibited from interacting with women below 30 alone. The mother or other responsible persons must be with him during modeling related jobs also.

Though Jon could work as a fashion designer, models should sign documents with details about them and also certify that they were never alone with him.

The case is posted for June 12 for pretrial. Jon pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Thirteen additional counts of sexual assault involve five new victims between the ages of 14 and 23. The new charges are based on incidents said to have occurred between November 2002 and February 28 of this year.
Ronald Richards, attorney for Jon, questioned the prosecution stand. He said the alleged incidents occurred several years ago and there is no evidence or witness for all these. "Many of them saw the arrest of Jon on the TV and they came forward with wild claims," he said.

He told the court that Jon will reside with is mother Shashi, sister Sanjana and her husband in New York. The judge agreed and asked him not to be involved in any more questionable acts and also to come back for the trial.

Deputy District Attorney Mara McIlvain with the Sex Crimes Division said the additional 12 felony counts include two counts of forcible rape, five counts of forcible oral copulation, two counts of lewd act on a child, one count of sodomy, one count of false imprisonment and one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object. And additional misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor also was added. McIlvain dismissed one misdemeanor sexual battery count filed previously.

Jon allegedly lured young female models with promises of modeling work and contracts and then sexually assaulted them beginning in 2002, the prosecution said. If convicted of all counts, he faces life in prison.

A spokesperson for the district attorney said that in addition to the 12 women, another six have come forward to accuse the designer. The prosecution is interviewing them.

There are investigation going on against him in Texas and New York, she said. But she did not provide more details.

"Anand's release again proves that there is God. We are thankful to God for his kindness," Sanjana, also a fashion designer and model, said.

"Anand is a very spiritual person. He is very family oriented. He will not commit such crimes as alleged," she said.

She noted that the fashion world is a place of cut throat competition and jealousy. "He was put in jail five days before he was to introduce his new works and clothing line at the Los Angles Fashion Week," she noted.

"We somehow managed get the money to post bail. I will spend all I have to keep him out of jail," Jon's mother Shashi said.

Image: Anand Jon with Sarkar Srambickal, a designer in Los Angeles after his release on bail

Reportage: George Joseph in Los Angeles