Accused Sexual Predator Pleads Guilty
Plea Deal Reduced Charges from 35 to Eight
Patrick Galoustian, who for nearly 10 years ran the iV Menus mobile food delivery service in Isla Vista, pled guilty to eight counts of sexual assault involving two individuals in 2017 and is looking at 18 years behind bars. Galoustian, who had run a martial arts studio as well, is accused of doping two women and having sex with them when they lacked the capacity to give consent.
Initially, prosecuting attorney Jennifer Karapetian had
filed 33 counts against Galoustian and more recently had bumped that to 35.
Karapetian explained via email that the deal was struck only after consulting
with the two victims. “The victims wanted to put this extremely traumatic
experience behind them and move forward with their lives,” she wrote. “The stress
and anxiety of having to testify against their assailant was something they
were not looking forward to.”
Karapetian noted that Galoustian had pled guilty to two of
the new charges relating to making criminal threats against the victims. These
qualify as serious felony charges for purposes of the state’s three-strikes
sentencing law; if Galoustian is convicted of another serious charge after his
release, he could be sent back to prison for 25 years to life.
