Harvey Weinstein. Photo –Flickr
Fallen movie producer Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on first and third degree rape charges, the New York County (Manhattan) district attorney has announced. Additionally, the grand jury indicted Weinstein on first degree criminal sexual act charges.
“This indictment brings the defendant another step closer to accountability for the crimes of violence with which he is now charged,” Manhattan DA Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., said. “Our office will try this case not in the press, but in the courtroom where it belongs. The defendant’s recent assault on the integrity of the survivors and the legal process is predictable. We are confident that when the jury hears the evidence, it will reject these attacks out of hand.”
Vance called on “additional survivors and others with relevant information” to call us at (212) 335-9373.
Weinstein’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman has said his client didn’t engage in nonconsensual sex. There are two women in the center of the charges. One woman claims Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex. The other accuser, who claims Weinstein raped her in a hotel room, remains unidentified. Speaking of the second woman, Brafman said she was “someone with whom he has had a 10-year consensual, sexual relationship, both before the alleged incident and after the alleged incident.”
Weinstein was ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device; he also posted $1 million bail and surrendered his passport.
