Movie producer Weinstein surrenders on sex assault charges
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Film producer Harvey Weinstein on Friday surrendered to authorities at a New York City police station on sex crime charges, months after he was toppled from Hollywood’s most powerful ranks by scores of women accusing him of misconduct.
More than 70 women have accused the co-founder of the Miramax film studio and Weinstein Co of sexual misconduct, including rape, with some allegations dating back decades.
The accusations, first reported by the New York Times and the New Yorker last year, gave rise to the #MeToo movement in which hundreds of women have publicly accused powerful men in business, government and entertainment of misconduct.
Weinstein arrived at the station house shortly at about 7:25 a.m. EDT (1125 GMT) wearing a dark jacket over a blue sweater and white open-collared shirt and dark denim jeans, carrying three thick books under his right arm, including what appeared to be a biography of Elia Kazan, the director of such classic Hollywood films as “On the Waterfront” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Police officers escorted him inside as scores of journalists pushed up against barricades for pictures, while three helicopters hovered overhead.
Weinstein is expected to be charged with raping one woman and forcing another to perform oral sex on him, the New York Times reported, citing unidentified law enforcement officials.
Weinstein has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone.
Weinstein’s spokesman Juda Engelmayer and his lawyer Benjamin Brafman both declined to comment to Reuters on Thursday on the imminent charges.
The charges follow a months-long investigation that involved the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
The victim in the rape case has not been identified, the Times reported, but Weinstein will be charged with first-degree and third-degree rape. The other case involves allegations by Lucia Evans, a former aspiring actress who told the New Yorker that Weinstein forced her to give him oral sex in 2004, the Times reported.
Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien, Peter Szekely and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe