The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Weinstein jailed for 23 years over two sex charges
COURT: Movie mogul found guilty of rape and criminal sex act by New York jury
Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.
Weinstein, accused of violating scores of women, was convicted last month of raping a woman in a New York City hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on another woman at his apartment in 2006.
He faced a maximum of 29 years in prison.
Both women Weinstein was convicted of assaulting – a once-aspiring actress and a former TV and film production assistant – spoke in court before Judge James Burke announced the sentence, confronting Weinstein again after their evidence helped seal his conviction at the landmark #Metoo trial.
The once-aspiring actress Weinstein was convicted of raping in 2013 recalled the moment during the trial when she left the witness box in tears and then could be heard screaming from an adjacent room.
“The day my screams were heard from the witness room was the day my voice came back to its full power,” she said.
“Rape is not just one moment of penetration. It is forever.”
Weinstein, who has maintained that any sexual activity was consensual, also spoke in court, saying he had fond memories of his accusers.
He said: “I had wonderful times with these people. I’m just genuinely confused. Men are confused about this issue.”
Judge Burke also heard from Weinstein’s lawyers, who pled for leniency because of his age and frail health, and prosecutors, who said the man once celebrated as a titan of Hollywood deserved a harsh sentence that would account for allegations of wrongdoing dating to the 1970s.
Weinstein was sentenced a week shy of his 68th birthday, and his lawyers argued a lengthy prison term would, in effect, be a life sentence.
They sought a five-year sentence, the mandatory minimum on the more serious of the two charges.
Weinstein was convicted on two counts – criminal sex act for the 2006 assault on the production assistant and rape in the third degree for a 2013 attack on another woman.
On the criminal sex act count, he faced a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 25 years in prison, while the third-degree rape count carried a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
He was acquitted of the more serious charges against him of first-degree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault.
Weinstein contends any sexual activity was consensual.
Now that Weinstein has been sentenced, his lawyers can move forward with a promised appeal.