Convicted rapist Andrew Luster will remain in prison after the state’s parole board reversed a smaller panel’s decision to release him.
Known as the heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune, Luster, now 62, was convicted in 2003 of drugging and raping three women in his Mussel Shoals home north of Ventura. In two of the attacks, Luster recorded his rape and sexual abuse of the victims.
Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko welcomed the reversal, saying the two-person panel erred in its Aug. 8 decision.
“Our office stands firmly against the release of Andrew Luster,” he said Wednesday in a news release.
Nasarenko said Luster should be kept locked up because of his “heinous acts,” adding that the convicted rapist has “continued to minimize his conduct and releasing him would be a grave injustice to the survivors and a threat to public safety.”
The DA opposed the August decision and sent an opposition letter to the full parole board, saying, in essence, the decision “was based on significant errors of fact surrounding Luster’s offenses.” The larger board sided with the DA, deciding Tuesday Luster should not be freed on parole.
Luster’s high-profile capture
Luster was convicted in abstentia of 86 felony counts that included poisoning, rape, sodomy and oral copulation of unconscious victims, according to the DA’s office.
“In my 27 years as a prosecutor, Luster remains one of the most dangerous rapists I have ever prosecuted,” Senior Deputy District Attorney and the trial prosecutor Tony Wold said in the release.
While on trial in 2003, Luster fled to Mexico where he was captured by reality television personality Duane “The Dog” Chapman from the show “Dog the Bounty Hunter.”
Luster was originally sentenced to 125 years in prison. In 2013, Luster sought a lighter sentence after changes to state laws and was resentenced to 50 years in prison. Under state sentencing rules, he is only expected to serve about 50% of that time.
In January 2021, Luster became eligible for parole because of a combination of his age, time served and how his crimes were classified. That allowed Luster to attempt an earlier release before the two-person parole board.
While the full board denied Luster parole Tuesday, he is eligible for another parole hearing, which is tentatively set for April 2025. Luster’s full sentence is otherwise expected to end Oct. 31, 2026, the DA’s office said.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Convicted rapist Andrew Luster to remain in prison in state reversal
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