Harvey Weinstein found guilty of multiple counts of rape and sexual assault

A Los Angeles jury found disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein guilty of three counts of rape and sexual assault. Weinstein faced seven counts of sexual assault, but in a split verdict, per Variety, the jury acquitted him of one charge and could not reach a unanimous decision on the other three.

Deliberations began on December 2, lasting roughly 40 hours across 10 days. The 70-year-old Weinstein faced 60 years to life in prison. He is currently serving a 23-year sentence from his 2020 conviction of rape and sexual assault.

Weinstein was first charged in California in January 2020 with two counts of rape and five counts of sexual assault while his New York trial was still ongoing. In February 2020, Weinstein was convicted in the New York trial of sexually assaulting two women, according to The Washington Post. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison for those charges, and the sentence was upheld this past June after a legal challenge from his lawyers but is currently on appeal. Weinstein was extradited to California in July to face charges in the state.

In November, first lady of California Jennifer Seibel Newsom took the stand to accuse the Pulp Fiction producer of rape. Newsom testified that she first met Weinstein in Toronto in 2005. Weeks later, during a meeting in Los Angeles, he invited her up to a hotel room where he proceeded to rape her. Newsom was the fourth “Jane Doe” to take the stand.

Famously, a 2017 New York Times investigation into Weinstein’s predatory behavior over the course of his career sparked the #MeToo movement and an immediate (and ongoing) conversation over sexual harassment and violence in Hollywood and the rest of the world.

At the time, the Times found at least eight settlements with women dating back to the early 1990s and stretching until 2015. In one, with actress Rose McGowan, a legal document said that Weinstein intended to “avoid litigation and buy peace” with the settlement.

If you or someone you know is suffering from sexual abuse, contact the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.