The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WHY HARVEY WEINSTEIN IS NOW FACING ARREST
Source: Charges in connection to at least one accuser coming.
NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul, is expected to surrender to investigators today after a monthslong inquiry into allegations that he sexually assaulted numerous women.
Weinstein is to be charged by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, according to two law enforcement officials.
Movie stars and employees of his company have described a decadeslong history by Weinstein of sexually abusing and assaulting them and then paying or coercing them to stay silent.
He will face charges in
connection to at least one accuser, Lucia Evans, who has said Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him during a business meeting in 2004, one person with knowledge of the investigation said. It remained unclear if charges would be filed in
connection to other victims.
Prosecutors in Manhattan have also been investigating allegations that Weinstein raped an actress, Paz de la Huerta, in her home in New York City in 2010.
De la Huerta made her claims to the police in late October, after revelations in The New York Times and The New Yorker about Weinstein’s history of sexually assaulting women and paying or putting pressure on them not to speak out. In describing what occurred, de la Huerta said Weinstein violently forced her down and had intercourse with her against her will.
The precise charges he was expected to face were not immediately clear. Weinstein’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment.
Weinstein’s legal risk has grown in recent months: Local prosecutors in Manhattan and Los Angeles and the police in London have been investigating sexual assault allegations against him as federal prosecutors in Manhattan broadened their inquiry into possible financial improprieties to include accusations that Weinstein violated federal stalking laws.