Justin Roiland
(Picture: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)The co-creator of popular animated show Rick and Morty is awaiting trial on charges of domestic violence against a former girlfriend.
Prosecutors in Orange County, California, charged Justin Roiland, 42, with corporal injury and false imprisonment by menace, fraud, violence or deceit against the woman, who he was living with at the time.
The accuser is an anonymous “Jane Doe” who police say “was in a dating relationship” with Mr Roiland at the time.
A police complaint says that his actions resulted “in a traumatic condition” for the woman.
Mr Roiland has pleaded not guilty.
The alleged incident occurred in January of 2020 and Mr Roiland was charged in May of that year, but the charges apparently went unnoticed by media outlets until NBC News reported them on Thursday, when a pre-trial hearing was held in the case.
Mr Roiland is set to return to court in April. A trial date has not been set.
Mr Roiland and Dan Harmon created Rick and Morty, an animated sci-fi sitcom about a mad scientist and his grandson, both voiced by Roiland. It has aired for six seasons on Cartoon Network as part of its Adult Swim night-time programming block, and has been renewed for a seventh.
Mr Roiland also created the video game High on Life, a comedy alien shooter taking place in a science fiction world. The single-player adventure game was released last month on PC and Xbox.
