Andy Dick sentenced to 90 days in jail in groping case, must register as sex offender
Andy Dick was sentenced to 90 days in Los Angeles County jail after a jury found him guilty of groping an Uber driver in West Hollywood in 2018, officials said.
At a hearing last week at the Los Angeles Superior Court Airport Courthouse, the comedian and actor was also sentenced to 12 months of summary probation upon release from jail and must register as a sex offender, according to Greg Risling, spokesman for the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.
He is also required to pay restitution to the victim and was ordered to complete 52 Alcoholics Anonymous sessions, 52 sexual compulsion anonymous sessions, and 12 counseling sessions, Risling wrote in an emailed statement.
The comic is expected to surrender to authorities Thursday at the Airport Courthouse to begin his jail sentence, Risling said.
Dick’s attorney Daniel Kapelovitz said he plans to appeal the case, but declined to comment further. When Dick pleaded not guilty to the charge in 2019, Kapelovitz called the allegations against Dick “completely baseless.â€
During a two-week trial in June, jurors weighed the accusations of a ride-share driver who said Dick had grabbed his genitals during an Uber ride in West Hollywood in 2018. They delivered a guilty verdict for one count of misdemeanor sexual battery, the district attorney’s office said.
The rock band the Neighbourhood released its drummer, Brandon Fried, after MarÃa Zardoya of the MarÃas accused Fried of groping her at a bar.
Dick’s history of assault allegations stretch back several decades, including arrests on suspicion of felony domestic violence last November in Los Angeles and suspicion of felony sexual battery out of Orange County in May. It was unclear whether Los Angeles police plan to file charges in the 2021 incident, but prosecutors in Orange County dropped their case after they said the victim refused to cooperate with authorities, the OC Register reported.
Just last month, Dick, 56, was arrested in Santa Barbara on suspicion of stealing power tools, according to a report in People magazine.
In 2019, a New Orleans man whom Dick had accused of assault claimed the comedian had groped and winked at him first, allegedly prompting him to sucker-punch the comic, knocking him unconscious for 15 minutes.
In 2018, the “NewsRadio†veteran’s longtime girlfriend was granted a restraining order against him in L.A. after a domestic violence claim. That same year, Dick pleaded no contest to lewd conduct and battery for allegedly squeezing a woman’s buttocks and making lewd comments while passing her on a Studio City street. He struck a plea deal for the incident and avoided jail time.
Another case, settled in 2013, involved Dick allegedly flashing his penis in a Dallas comedy club and rubbing his genitals in a male patron’s face. And in 2008, he was arrested in a drug and battery case, in which he allegedly fondled a teen at a Murrieta, Calif., eatery.
Dick’s comic career, starting in the late 1980s, has been colored by his unpredictable behavior. He found fame with several roles on MTV, including the “Ben Stiller Show†and his own short-lived series, “The Andy Dick Show.†He was also known for his controversial appearances on Comedy Central roasts.
After a 2007 appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live†ended with security dragging Dick from the set after he repeatedly tried to kiss Ivanka Trump during the shoot without her consent, Kimmel told Hollywood.com that Dick “always makes me a little uncomfortable, you have no idea what he’s going to do next.â€
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