Randy Orbach, Paroled Stalker at Center of March Weekly Cover Story, is Arrested Again

So much for Randy Orbach's redemption song (allegedly). The parolee and subject of a Weekly cover story in March has been arrested on suspicion of making illegal contact with the ex-girlfriend whose complaints of being harassed sent Orbach to prison in March 2010.

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Former Millionaire Randy Orbach Says His Nonprofit Will Help Fellow Convicts Find a Job After Prison

During a four-month period after the couple originally broke up, Orbach hit the woman with a pipe, punched her in the face, slashed the tires on her car, threw a firecracker on her roof that led to a small fire and sent her countless e-mails and messages, prosecutors told jurors. He was convicted in 2008 on 57 counts of violating a restraining order and one count each of arson, battery, stalking and disobeying a court order.

In March 2009, Orbach was given a suspended five-year prison sentence that allowed the then-millionaire son of a former George W. Bush cabinet member to spend nights at the private Seal Beach jail for a year while working days at the financial advising firm he founded in Laguna Niguel.

But after Orbach's release from jail, he kept harassing the woman with anonymous e-mails and mysterious text messages. That earned him a conviction of 42 counts of contempt of court, counts of felony stalking and violating parole and, in 2010, a five-year prison sentence (minus time served in jail and good behavior).

Upon Orbach's release from prison, he contacted the Weekly about our previous coverage. That led to our cover story that included his vows of having learned his lesson, wanting to put his troubled past behind him and starting a nonprofit foundation aimed at starting businesses in inner cities and places like Santa Ana, with the goal of creating jobs for so many denied opportunities, including men he served with in prison.

Huntington Beach Police and the Orange County District Attorney's office are not releasing too many details about the circumstances of Orbach's July 2 arrest heading into a scheduled preliminary hearing today at West Justice Center in Westminster, where a judge will determine if there is enough evidence for trial. But based on what the OCDA can release at this point, the arrest involves Orbach's continued efforts to contact his ex-girlfriend.

The son of Raymond Orbach–a former UC Riverside chancellor, George W. Bush administration Department of Energy director and University of Texas professor–was still in custody in lieu of $1 million bail as of Wednesday, according to Orange County Jail records.

Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!

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