By Redaccion
redaccion@latinocc.com
Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced Wednesday that his office will continue to oppose the early release of Andrew Stuart Luster, a convicted serial rapist whose crimes shocked the community two decades ago.
Luster, the heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune, was convicted in 2003 of drugging and sexually assaulting three unconscious women at his beachfront home in Ventura County. He was initially sentenced to 124 years in state prison, a term later reduced to 50 years in 2013 over the objections of prosecutors.
During his original trial, Luster fled the country but was eventually captured in Mexico by bounty hunter Duane “Dog” Chapman.
In August 2024, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation granted Luster parole, despite objections from all three victims, who attended the hearing and urged the board to deny his release. The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office challenged the board’s decision, which was later reversed by a majority vote of parole commissioners.
Prosecutors successfully argued that Luster continued to minimize the severity of his crimes, showed no genuine remorse, lacked evidence of rehabilitation, and still posed a danger to public safety.
Under California law, a new parole hearing was automatically scheduled for April 29, 2025. Prosecutors and the victims are expected to attend and once again argue against his release.
“We will continue to strenuously oppose any early release from state prison,” Nasarenko said. “Luster’s statements to the parole board demonstrate that he remains unremorseful for his crimes and unworthy of parole.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Anthony Wold, who prosecuted Luster in the original trial, will represent the office at the upcoming hearing, alongside the victims.
“By drugging his victims into a coma-like state, Andrew Luster played Russian roulette with their lives just to abuse their unconscious bodies,” Wold said. “Even now, he attempts to rewrite the history of his heinous crimes to falsely reduce his culpability and secure early release. He remains a highly dangerous sexual predator. We continue to maintain he should serve his full sentence. He’s earned it.”
If parole is denied again, Luster is not expected to be released until late 2026.
