Man who allegedly robbed, sexually assaulted neighbor pleads not guilty

A Palm Springs man who was arrested Monday for allegedly breaking into his neighbor’s home, attacking her, sexually assaulting her, robbing the home, then fleeing in her car entered a not guilty plea in Indio court Friday.

Demitri Giles, 45, was set to be arraigned on Thursday but had the hearing raised due to medical reasons. Giles faces 14 felony counts, including torture, burglary, assault, car theft, and various sexual assault charges. He faces additional sentence-enhancing allegations on the counts, including crimes against a person over 65 and inflicting great bodily injury upon a person during a crime, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

Read the DA’s Office full criminal complaint below:

On Thursday, Giles’ bail was raised from $1 million to $3 million.

Giles was ordered by the judge to not have any communication with the victim and to not possess a firearm.

Giles reportedly gained entrance to the victim’s home by using a mail ‘ruse’; saying that he had some of the victim’s mail, then forcing his way into the residence, according to Captain Kovaleff of the Palm Springs Police Department.

Giles will return to court on April 3 for a felony settlement conference.