Harvey Weinstein will be charged with indecent assault in the UK
The disgraced producer's charges stem from an incident that allegedly occurred in London in 1996
Harvey Weinstein is facing even more charges after the UK’s Crown Protection Services (CPS) handed down two counts of indecent assault stemming from an alleged 1996 incident in London, Deadline reports.
CPS moved forward with the charges after the Metropolitan Police reviewed evidence. The CPS announced its decision alongside an advisory “reminding all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”
The Guardian reports that the two alleged incidents occurred between July 31 and August 31, 1996. The alleged victim is now in her 50s.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison back in 2020. Since those bombshell 2017 articles in the New York Times and the New Yorker first shed light on decades of swirling allegations against Weinstein, more than 100 women have accused him of sexual harassment or assault.
Last week, Weinstein lost an appeal in New York to overturn his charges. Weinstein’s lawyers argued that his case warranted re-examination due to judging errors that favored the prosecution. The five-judge appellate panel upheld Weinstein’s conviction and sentence.
“While we acknowledge the sheer size of the impeachment material that the court allowed, we have analyzed that decision within the larger context of all of the circumstances presented by this case, and have concluded that the court providently exercised its discretion,” Justice Angela Mazzarelli wrote on behalf of the court.
The once-invincible Miramax co-founder’s fall from grace was at the center of the explosive #MeToo movement, which caused an upending of workplace silence that saw high-powered Hollywood men like Bryan Singer, Matt Lauer and Kevin Spacey publicly accused of predatory behavior. Spacey himself just received four sexual assault charges (and one additional charge) in the UK last week.
Weinstein is currently serving his sentence in Los Angeles while he awaits the beginning of his West Coast trial.