Harvey Weinstein could face life in prison following latest sex-crime charges (updated)
Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on additional sex-crime charges in New York City stemming from a 2006 incident, charges that could be the most serious yet against the disgraced Hollywood mogul.
On Monday, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced Weinstein has been charged with an additional count of criminal sexual act in the first degree for a forcible sexual act against an unidentified woman, who is the third victim to surface in a criminal case. Weinstein has also been charged with two counts of predatory sexual assault, a Class A-II felony, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
“A Manhattan Grand Jury has now indicted Harvey Weinstein on some of the most serious sexual offenses that exist under New York’s Penal Law,” Vance says in a statement. “This indictment is the result of the extraordinary courage exhibited by the survivors who have come forward. Our investigation continues. If you are a survivor of the predatory abuse with which Mr. Weinstein is charged, there is still time to pursue justice. Please call us at 212-335-9373.”
Weinstein’s attorney says his client “will enter a plea of not guilty to the new charges.” The statement continues, “Mr. Weinstein maintains that all of these allegations are false and he expects to be fully vindicated. Furthermore to charge Mr. Weinstein as a predator when the interactions were each consensual is simply not justified.”
Weinstein was arrested in May after turning himself over to authorities. He was charged with rape in the first and third degrees and committing a criminal sexual act in the first degree in incidents involving two separate women. The forcible sexual acts allegedly occurred in 2013 and 2004, respectively. Weinstein easily posted $1 million bail.
In June, he pleaded not guilty to these original charges. His attorney said at the time that Weinstein “has always maintained that he has never engaged in nonconsensual sexual behavior with anyone. Nothing about today’s proceedings changes Mr. Weinstein’s position. He has entered a plea of not guilty and fully expects to be exonerated.”
More than 80 women have come forward accusing Weinstein of sexual harassment, misconduct, and/or assault. Gwyneth Paltrow is one of those women who spoke out about an inappropriate encounter she allegedly experienced at the hands of the Shakespeare in Love producer. Last week she said she’s still processing the fact he might be legally accountable for his actions.
“I still feel like I haven’t processed it,” Paltrow told the New York Times. “I’m still completely in shock. I grew up in a world where these kinds of systems remained intact. To see somebody like Harvey Weinstein, who in my professional world was omnipotent and the person who held so much of my career in his hands, in handcuffs … it is just stunning to me … it’s overwhelming to know we’re living in a culture where ramifications exist for this kind of thing.”
She ended by saying that it’s like “a veil of shame that’s been lifted off this whole thing” and that she feels an “amazing” sense of “knit-togetherness in the female community.”
It has been nearly nine months since the initial explosive Weinstein reports were released. New York City is the first city to bring charges against the former media mogul.
[Editor’s note: This post was originally published July 2, 2018 at 12:50 p.m. ET.]
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