LOS ANGELES (CNS) - As he prepares to go on trial in New York on similar allegations, former film producer Harvey Weinstein was charged today in Los Angeles with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another during a two- day period in 2013.
Weinstein, 67, was charged in Los Angeles with forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint. He will be arraigned at a later date, after his New York trial concludes.
Once he is brought to Los Angeles to face the charges, prosecutors plan to ask that he be held in lieu of $5 million bail.
Weinstein has repeatedly maintained his innocence, denying that he ever engaged in non-consensual sex with anyone.
Los Angeles County prosecutors said Weinstein allegedly pushed his way into a woman's hotel room on Feb. 18, 2013, and raped her, then allegedly sexually assaulted a different woman at his Beverly Hills hotel room the next night.
“We believe the evidence will show that the defendant used his power and influence to gain access to his victims and then commit violent crimes against them,” District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement announcing the charges. “I want to commend the victims who have come forward and bravely recounted what happened to them. It is my hope that all victims of sexual violence find strength and healing as they move forward.”
Weinstein faces up to 28 years in prison if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney's Office.
The announcement of Southland charges come as trial unfolds for Weinstein in New York, where he is facing charges of first- and third-degree rape, first-degree sexual assault and two counts of predatory sexual assault.
Multiple women have accused Weinstein of criminal wrongdoing in Los Angeles County. Lacey said her office was presented with eight cases for consideration of charges, but three of them involved actions that were outside the statute of limitations so no charges were filed. Cases involving three other women are still under review.
The alleged victims in the local cases were not identified.
“Each of these victims told at least one person about the assault in 2013,” Lacey said, adding that both women went to police with their allegations in 2017.
In October 2017, an Italian model-actress came forward and told police she was sexually assaulted by the film producer 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. I sickens me still. ... He made me feel like an object, like nothing with all his power.”
Lacey said more than 40 cases have been presented to her office in the past two years making various allegations of sexual wrongdoing against entertainment-industry figures. She created a task force in 2017 to review such cases.
The district attorney noted that most of those 40 cases were rejected, largely because they occurred beyond a statute of limitations or there was insufficient evidence to justify charges.
“As in any criminal case, a prosecutor must be able to prove the defendant is guilty of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt to be able to file criminal charges against any person,” Lacey said. “For these and many other reasons, sexual assault cases are among the most challenging to prosecute.”
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