Weinstein faces rape arrest

Detectives in New York believe they have enough evidence to arrest disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein after an actress claimed he raped her twice in the city in 2010.

Paz de la Huerta, 33, who appeared in the TV series Boardwalk Empire, alleged both attacks took place in her own home about a month apart.

New York abandoned its five-year statute of limitations for rape in 2006, meaning Weinstein could be prosecuted.

Detective Nicholas DiGaudio, who is leading the Weinstein investigation in New York, told Vanity Fair: “I believe, based on my interviews with Paz, that . . . we have enough to make an arrest.”

His comment raised the prospect that Weinstein could be arrested if he returns to his native New York from Arizona, where he has been undergoing treatment at a rehabilitation centre.

Around 60 women have come forward in recent weeks with allegations of sexual assault and harassment against the producer. He is facing police investigations in New York, Los Angeles and London.

In a statement, Weinstein’s representative said: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr Weinstein.”

The Manhattan district attorney’s office said a senior prosecutor had been assigned to look into De la Huerta’s allegations.

She first met Weinstein when she was 14, while making The Cider House Rules. The alleged attacks took place when she was 26.

She said the first attack happened after Weinstein gave her a lift home from a bar, and on the second occasion he turned up at her home unannounced.

The actress told Vanity Fair: “He’s like a pig, he raped me. I lay there feeling sick. He looked at me and said: ‘I’ll put you in a play.’

“He left and I never heard from him again, he knew he had done a bad thing.”

Weinstein was seen publicly in Arizona for the first time since entering therapy.

A photograph showed him in disguise at a restaurant wearing a blond wig and orange makeup, and a hat referencing the resurrection of Jesus.