A quiet city has been left reeling after discovering one of the state’s most notorious sex offenders has moved in.
Andrew Luster, the great-grandson of Max Factor Sr and heir to the cosmetics fortune, has been freed from prison after serving just 20 years of his original 124-year sentence.
The 62-year-old was convicted of drugging three women unconscious and sexually assaulting them at his Ventura County beachfront home, filming the attacks.
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California’s Megan’s Law public database now lists him as living in Glendora, around 25 miles north-east of Los Angeles.
And local leaders are furious.
Mayor David Fredendall, whose family has called the city home for six generations, told PEOPLE: “The City of Glendora is beyond disappointed. We are outraged.”
He said: “A man convicted of repeatedly drugging and raping unconscious women was sentenced to serve 124 years in prison, has now been released after serving only 20 years in prison, under a sentencing framework that Proposition 57 helped create.
“Our Police Department will work with State parole authorities to ensure every applicable law and condition of supervision is followed.
“We will do everything within our lawful authority to protect our residents.”
State Assemblywoman Blanca E Rubio branded the release “disgusting and unacceptable”.
She said: “I am working closely with local officials and law enforcement to stay informed about the circumstances of Luster’s release, the conditions of his parole and the measures being taken to protect the residents of Glendora and surrounding communities.”
Luster was first arrested in July 2000, after a college student told police he had raped her at his home.
When investigators searched the property, they found a video recording showing him drugging and assaulting her.
Further tapes showed him abusing two more women.
He was eventually charged with 86 felony counts, including rape, sodomy and oral copulation, after using the date-rape drug GHB to stupefy his victims.
His trial got underway in late 2002, but just weeks in, he persuaded the judge to relax the conditions of his release so he could visit his lawyer in Los Angeles over the holidays.
Instead, he paid to be smuggled across the border into Mexico.
Luster has since claimed he knew little of the plan and that it was masterminded by one of his lawyers.
He spent months on the run, dodging an FBI manhunt.
While he was gone, a jury convicted him in his absence, and the judge handed him 124 years behind bars.
His time as a fugitive finally ended in June 2003, when bounty hunter Duane “Dog” Chapman tracked him down in Puerto Vallarta.
Because he had fled, Luster lost his right to appeal.
But a habeas corpus petition he filed was granted in 2012, and his sentence was cut to 50 years – despite fierce opposition from prosecutors.
It was then reduced further under Proposition 57, a ballot measure passed by voters in 2016 that opened up early release to people convicted of non-violent crimes.
According to Fredendall, the measure sped up Luster’s release – even though then-Governor Jerry Brown had assured voters at the time that sex offenders would be excluded.
The case has reignited debate over what counts as a violent crime in California.
In August 2024, a parole board granted Luster early release, despite all three of his victims appearing at the hearing to speak against it.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s office successfully challenged the decision, which was overturned by a majority of parole board commissioners.
Prosecutors argued he continued to misrepresent his crimes, showed no sign of rehabilitation and remained a danger to the public.
His victims have attended every hearing since to object to his release.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Anthony Wold, who originally prosecuted Luster, said: “By drugging his victims into a coma-like state, Andrew Luster played Russian roulette with the lives of his victims so he could abuse their comatose bodies.
“Even now, he attempts to rewrite the history of his heinous crimes to falsely mitigate his culpability to gain early release.
“He remains a highly dangerous sexual predator.
“We continue to maintain he should serve his full sentence. He’s earned it.”
District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said ahead of a hearing in April 2025: “Luster’s statements to the parole board demonstrate that he remains unremorseful for his crimes and unworthy of parole.”
Rubio co-authored Senate Bill 268 in 2024, closing a loophole that treated rapes of drugged or unconscious victims as non-violent offences and reclassifying them as violent felonies.
She has vowed to keep working with law enforcement, local officials and fellow lawmakers.
In a statement shared on her social media channels, Rubio wrote: “I am outraged and deeply disturbed by the decision to grant parole to convicted serial rapist Andrew Luster.
“It is incomprehensible that an individual originally sentenced to 124 years in prison for such horrific crimes could be granted parole after serving approximately 20 years.
“This decision raises serious questions about California’s parole system, its accountability, and whether we are truly putting the safety of our communities and the rights of victims first.
”Our justice system is supposed to protect the innocent, hold violent criminals accountable, and provide victims with a sense of justice. Decisions like this undermine public confidence in that system and send a devastating message to survivors of sexual assault.
“Victims should never have to live in fear that the individuals who committed these heinous crimes will be returned to their communities after serving only a fraction of their original sentences.
She said: “Justice must not end with a conviction. It must also mean accountability, protection for victims and confidence our justice system puts public safety first.”
A lawyer for Luster did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Jam Press has approached Luster’s legal representatives and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for a comment.
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