Harvey Weinstein​ Charged With Rape In Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CA — Harvey Weinstein, the movie mogul who once exercised unchecked power in Hollywood, will be charged with rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles on accusations that he attacked two women, Los Angeles County prosecutors announced Monday.

The case adds to the disgraced producer's already serious legal woes as he prepares to go to trial in New York on separate sexual assault charges.

According to Los Angeles prosecutors, Weinstein attacked two women during a two-day period in 2013. The case is the result of a nearly two-year investigation into the man whose alleged abuses of actresses and models helped usher in the #MeToo era. The charges stem from two of eight assault cases against Weinstein investigated by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Three of the cases fell outside the statute of limitations, according to investigators, and three others continue to be reviewed.

Weinstein was charged in Los Angeles with forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint. He faces up to 28 years in prison if convicted as charged, according to the district attorney's office. He is to be arraigned at a later date.

Los Angeles County prosecutors said Weinstein pushed his way into a woman's hotel room on Feb. 18, 2013, and raped her, then sexually assaulted a different woman at his Beverly Hills hotel room the next night.

"We believe the evidence will show that the defendant used his power and influence to gain access to his victims and them commit violent crimes against them," District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement announcing the charges. "I want to commend the victims who have come forward and bravely recounted what happened to them. It is my hope that all victims of sexual violence find strength and healing as they move forward."

SEE ALSO:

• Harvey Weinstein Rape Trial Begins In New York City
  
• Harvey Weinstein Now Accused Of Rape As A-Listers Come Forward
• Actress Accuses Weinstein Of Rape In New Lawsuit
• Harvey Weinstein Expelled From Motion Picture Academy
• Harvey Weinstein Raped Actress In Beverly Hills, Lawsuit Claims

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Multiple women have accused Weinstein of criminal wrongdoing in Los Angeles County, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors are still deciding how to handle an additional three cases.

The alleged victims in the local cases were not identified. Lacey said both women went to police with their allegations in 2017.

In October 2017, an Italian model-actress came forward and told police she was sexually assaulted by the film producer in February 2013 at the Mr. C Beverly Hills hotel in Los Angeles, where she was staying while attending the eighth annual Los Angeles, Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest.

"He ... bullied his way into my hotel room, saying, 'I'm not going to (have sex with you), I just want to talk,'" the woman told the Los Angeles Times. "Once inside, he asked me questions about myself, but soon became very aggressive and demanding and kept asking to see me naked.

"He grabbed my by the hair and forced me to do something I did not want to do. He then dragged me to the bathroom and forcibly raped me," she said.

Weinstein left after about 45 minutes and "acted like nothing happened," the woman said.

"I barely knew this man," she told The Times. "It was the most demeaning thing ever done to me by far. I sickens me still. ... He made me feel like an object, like nothing with all his power."

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City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.