NCIS actor Gabriel Olds will not be making a settlement agreement with prosecutors over charges he raped and sexually abused former lovers, his defense attorney tells Daily Mail.
‘There will be no settlement at this time and it looks like we’re going to end up going to trial,’ says Leonard Levine
The veteran character actor and Yale grad is charged with 12 felony counts of rape, sodomy and other sexual offenses on six women from 2013 to 2023.
Investigators have told Daily Mail that Olds also punched his alleged victims during sexual encounters. He has pled not guilty to the charges.
Olds is an acknowledged fan of kinky sex and BDSM practices, including erotic asphyxiation – choking – during sex.
At least 20 of his former lovers and friends are supporting him, describing him a talented and caring lover, and have written impassioned character letters to Judge Cathryn Brougham.
Levine was speaking to Daily Mail following a scheduled hearing at the Airport Courthouse in Los Angeles on April 17.
Olds, 53, had been due to attend but was a ‘miss out,’ meaning he didn’t make it on the coach from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s North County Correctional Facility, a maximum-security jailhouse north of the city where he is being held on $3.5 million bail.
A further hearing has been scheduled for May 8 when a date will be set for a preliminary hearing.
Levine believes a trial is on course to start at some point during the summer.
His client has appeared in scores of TV shows over the years, including ‘Law & Order,’ ‘Charmed’ and ‘Boardwalk Empire.’ And in 2021 he won acclaim for his portrayal of televangelist Pat Robertson in the indie film ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ alongside Jessica Chastain.
Levine and co-counsel Jeremy Babich recently finished defending Monica Sementilli, who was found guilty by an LA jury on April 11 of murdering her hairstylist husband Fabio, aided by her former pornstar boyfriend and another male accomplice.
‘We’re disappointed and she’s going to file an appeal,’ Levine said of the case. ‘The appeal will be filed automatically. It’s unclear at this point who’s going to represent her.’
Meanwhile, Olds has been in custody since his arrest last August. ‘It takes a while to review all the documents and all the evidence and we’ve been involved in a 10-week murder case that kind of slows things up,’ says Levine.
‘No one wants to be incarcerated in a county jail, so it has its ups and downs. He’s handling it as best as can be expected.
‘We’re guardedly optimistic that after a preliminary hearing, when the judge hears the evidence and realizes what the issues are – even if the case is not dismissed – that hopefully she will lower the bail to something he can post.
‘It’s an unusual situation – there’s an issue as to whether or not it’s a crime at all.’
How is Olds coping behind bars? ‘He believes in his case and would like to be out on bail,’ says Levine. ‘And he wants to get it litigated as soon as we’re ready to do so. But he understands it’s going to take some time.’
In January 2023, a former lover of Olds – a 41-year-old reality TV producer – applied for a restraining order against him which included her writing:
‘He left marks on my neck and I got very sick and vomited after. My therapist said I have PTSD.
‘He began filming or photographing sex with me without my consent. We had sex and he began to choke me. I asked him to stop and he didn’t.
‘I tried getting out and I couldn’t. I blacked out. I think he slapped me to wake me up. I then got very sick and vomited.
‘I fell asleep and woke up to him standing next to the bed putting a condom on. I told him no and he got on bed on top of me and said he wanted to have fun.
‘I said no I don’t feel well and he tried opening my legs saying he’ll make me feel better. I said no and began yelling…and told him I’d vomit on him and then he stopped.’ Daily Mail is not naming the woman.
A confidential settlement between Olds and the woman stated he would pay her $2,700 medical costs without admitting wrongdoing.
Later, she reported the incident to LAPD but the district attorney’s office declined to prosecute at the time, citing lack of evidence. She then connected with other sexual partners of Olds via a Facebook site called ‘Are We Dating the Same Guy?’
Police sources told Daily Mail that five additional women told investigators that Olds choked them during sex between 2013 and 2023. Three of the women told police he had strangled them to the point of unconsciousness and they begged him to stop.
But other ex-lovers of Olds have penned heartfelt letters to Judge Brougham, expressing their support of him in a bid to have his huge bail amount reduced. Their comments are contained in the November 2024 bail motion obtained by Daily Mail.
‘He taught me about a world of intimacy which was beyond my experience,’ wrote one woman.
‘We would incorporate choking and other painful acts, and we frequently videotaped ourselves too,’ said another.
One lover told the judge: ‘It was the best sex I have ever had.’
Another woman – who called Olds ‘charming and respectful’ – added, ‘We did engage in choking during sex and he always stopped when I prompted him to.
‘Gabe is such a gentle soul who I believe doesn’t have it in him to harm another human.’
And yet another former lover wrote: ‘When he approached me about kink, he made me feel safe about exploring and knew I was nervous – he was incredibly gentle with his exploration with me.
‘In fact, he was such a gentle ass slapper I told him he could go harder. When he placed his hand around my neck, I felt safe and was safe.’
A woman who enjoyed a ‘situationship’ with Olds was with him the week prior to his arrest. ‘Gabriel is only turned on when the partner is into it and it’s 100% consensual,’ she said.
‘He only wants to try a kinky act because it turns you on and you want to do it.
‘It’s very trendy these days for women to want to be choked, spanked, slapped, have their hair pulled, be told what position to go into.
‘He is a lover. He would never hurt anyone during sex (kinky or vanilla) and I do not believe for one second that he would ever rape someone.’
Another supporter noted, ‘We were both in agreement that we wanted to take choking to the point of losing consciousness, and thereby experience the euphoria that that can bring.
‘While BDSM has been gaining more mainstream acceptance, this choice of lifestyle remains relatively taboo…but I have found it to be mutually fulfilling when practiced with a receptive sexual partner.’
A friend who has known Olds since they met at Yale described him as a ‘gentle person whom I trust with my life and the life of my children.’
Levine previously told Daily Mail that the claims by Olds’ accusers are ‘revisionist history’ and that they had agreed to be choked by Olds during erotic sex-play.
‘His defense is that all he engaged in was consensual sexual conduct with the alleged victims as well as many other women who have come forward on his behalf,’ Levine said.
‘They’re claiming they didn’t consent, and he’s claiming they did consent and talked about it well in advance (and) both sides agreed this is what we want to do.’
He has hired noted sociologist and BDSM expert Dr. Elizabeth Sheff to provide insight and explain how kinky sex practices – including erotic asphyxiation – have become more mainstream.
‘It’s far more common than I ever realized among today’s population,’ said Levine.
‘I’m just trying to educate those who have never heard of this and at first glance might think that choking is terrible – until they understand what it’s all about and how popular it is.’
In the defense’s bail motion filed in November, Levine pointed out the ‘unique sexual conduct at issue.’ It refers to the first complainant, the producer, as Jane Doe 1 – JD1.
Levine said in the filing that ‘the majority of the allegations involved consensual sexual activity until JD1 sought out other partners of Olds’ and persuaded them otherwise to bolster her allegations.’
He accuses JD1 in the court document of launching a ‘crusade’ to bring down his client.
‘This is a woman who dated him for a long time and exchanged text messages and sexy photos,’ Levine previously commented to Daily Mail.
Olds was in a ‘continuing relationship’ with JD1 before she made her claims, he adds. ‘This was not a one-night stand. There’s no question they were having a consensual relationship. And then it broke off.’
Of claims by JD1 against his client, Levine tells Daily Mail: ‘Whether this was revenge driven or fact based, we’ll find out.’
He asserts the woman did not contact police before seeking a restraining order.
‘She doesn’t go to the police as you would think you would do if you were a rape victim,’ he says. ‘She goes and files a temporary restraining order without going to the cops.’
Part of Olds’ defense, says Levine, will be that he and JD1 continued to see each other after the alleged choking. Claims made by JD1 in the restraining order request, he adds, were ‘very inconsistent.’