Sex Charges Against Actor Dropped

SARASOTA - Prosecutors dropped charges against an actor accused of drugging and raping a woman in his bayfront home last year.

Assistant State Attorney Craig Schaeffer said Friday he believed the 33-year-old woman's story, but did not have enough evidence to pursue charges against Joseph Arsenault.

Arsenault, 49, said that the sex was consensual, and that he provided detectives with photographs that proved it.

Joseph Arsenault

He said while at his house, he and the woman did cocaine together.

The woman, who met Arsenault on the dating Web site Match.com, told police that he forced her to snort heroin, and then raped her repeatedly while she was in a drug-induced stupor.

But cocaine was the only drug detected in the woman's system after urine and hair tests, court records showed, and Arsenault passed a polygraph test shortly after his arrest in September.

The day after their encounter, the woman called Arsenault on his cell phone and the two had an 11-minute conversation, which the defense offered up as further proof that the sex was consensual.

Arsenault has appeared in several low budget Hollywood films, including "Orgazmo" in 1997, in which he played a bit part as "Jimmy the Fish."

He said Friday that he believes his good looks, fame and fortune have made him a target for prosecutors and law enforcement.

He was arrested on similar charges nearly a decade ago in California. Those charges were also dropped.

"It's very difficult being a bachelor out there," Arsenault said Friday. "Women these days are different.

"Twenty years ago you could leave and have buyer's remorse and you say, 'Hey it's a one night thing,'" he said. "These days they cry wolf. The cuffs are out ... "

Prosecutor Schaeffer said that Arsenault's accuser "appeared very credible and was consistent in her version of events."

As a result of his arrest, Arsenault said, he was evicted from the bayfront home and lost $700,000 in business.