Harvey Weinstein charged with rape, sex abuse

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Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein surrendered to New York City police on Friday on charges of rape and sex abuse, months after he was toppled from Hollywood’s most powerful ranks by scores of women accusing him of misconduct.

Police officers escorted him inside as dozens of journalists pushed up against barricades for pictures, while three police helicopters circled overhead.

Weinstein is expected to be charged with raping one woman and forcing another to perform oral sex on him, the New York Times reported, citing unidentified law enforcement officials.

Harvey Weinstein, former co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., center, arrives at the New York Police Department (NYPD) 1st Precinct in New York, US. /VCG Photo

Weinstein arrived at the station house at about 7:25 a.m. EDT (11:25 GMT) wearing a dark jacket over a blue sweater and white open-collared shirt and dark denim jeans, carrying what appeared to be three thick books under his right arm.

Weinstein has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone.

According to Reuters, Weinstein's spokesman Juda Engelmayer and his lawyer Benjamin Brafman both declined to comment on Thursday on the imminent charges.

The charges follow a months-long investigation that involved the Manhattan district attorney's office.

File of Harvey Weinstein leaving his west village townhouse after the accusations in October, 2017. /VCG Photo

The victim in the rape case has not been identified, the Times reported, but Weinstein will be charged with first-degree and third-degree rape. The other case involves allegations by Lucia Evans, a former aspiring actress who told the New Yorker that Weinstein forced her to give him oral sex in 2004, the Times reported.

Over 70 women have accused the co-founder of the Miramax film studio and Weinstein Co of sexual misconduct, including rape, with some allegations dating back decades.

The accusations, first reported by the New York Times and the New Yorker last year, gave rise to the #MeToo movement in which hundreds of women have publicly accused powerful men in business, government and entertainment of misconduct.

Source(s): Reuters