LOST ANGELES (CANS) - Disgraced Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein surrendered to the New York City Police Department in Manhattan today and could be charged with raping one woman and forcing another to fellate him, according to law enforcement officials in the Empire State.
The New York Times and other publications reported that Weinstein will likely face criminal charges involving at least one woman, Lucia Evans. The one-time aspiring actress said in an interview with The New Yorker that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him during a 2004 meeting at his Miramax office in New York.
Another actress, Paz de la Huerta, best known for ``Boardwalk Empire,'' told Vanity Fair last year she was raped twice by Weinstein in New York in 2010. She said Weinstein gave her a ride home then insisted they have drinks, then forced himself on her.
The 66-year-old Weinstein until recently had seemed untouchable. Only three years ago, he withstood an investigation into groping allegations. The Manhattan district attorney's office faced an outcry over not charging Weinstein in the groping case, the New York Times reported, but the outcome this time is different. He will be charged with first-degree rape and third- degree rape in one case, and with first-degree criminal sex act in another, law enforcement officials told the Times.
The victim in the rape case has not been publicly identified. Weinstein has been accused of sexually harassing and assaulting movie stars and employees of his former namesake company over the course of decades and then paying them or coercing them to stay silent.
Dozens of women, including Angelina Jolie, Rose McGowan, Cara Delevingne and Kate Beckinsale, have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault. Weinsteinn has acknowledged inappropriate behavior in the past but has repeatedly denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.
At least 100 reporters and photographers stood outside the NYPD's First Precinct in downtown Manhattan this morning in anticipation of Weinstein's surrender. Police blocked off traffic around 7:25 a.m. and Weinstein exited a truck that pulled up near the 1st Precinct Entrance. He was sporting a blue sweater under a blazer and ignored questions from reporters.
In addition to the investigation in New York, Weinstein is also under criminal investigation in Los Angeles and London.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is reviewing five potential cases against Weinstein -- three from the Los Angeles Police Department and two from the Beverly Hills Police Department. D.A. spokesman Greg Risling said Thursday all five cases remain under review.
One of those cases is believed to be an allegation by an Italian actress/model who told police last year that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in February 2013 at the Mr. C Beverly Hills hotel, which is located in Los Angeles, where she was staying while attending the eighth annual Los Angeles, Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest.
``He ... bullied his way into my hotel room, saying, `I'm not going to (have sex with you), I just want to talk,''' the woman told the Los Angeles Times. ``Once inside, he asked me questions about myself, but soon became very aggressive and demanding and kept asking to see me naked.
``He grabbed my by the hair and forced me to do something I did not want to do. He then dragged me to the bathroom and forcibly raped me,'' she said.
Weinstein left after about 45 minutes, and ``acted like nothing happened,'' the woman said.
``I barely knew this man,'' she told The Times. ``It was the most demeaning thing ever done to me by far. It sickens me still. ... He made me feel like an object, like nothing with all his power.''
District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in November she had created a specialized task force in her office to evaluate cases of ``sexual abuse in the entertainment industry.'' She said the task force includes ``specially trained'' sex-crimes prosecutors who will review cases to determine if criminal charges are warranted.
The allegations against Weinstein touched off a firestorm of allegations of sexual harassment in the entertainment industry and beyond, sparking the #MeToo movement of women coming forward with claims of being victimized and the #TimesUp movement demanding change in the treatment of women.
The Weinstein Company production house was forced into bankruptcy following the allegations, and Weinstein himself was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and other major Hollywood organizations.
According to TMZ.com, Weinstein was in Southern California as late as Wednesday, when he was photographed having lunch at a Malibu restaurant.