Weinstein to surrender in sexual assault probe: Officials

NEW YORK — Law enforcement officials say Harvey Weinstein is expected to surrender to authorities Friday morning to face criminal charges in a months-long investigation into allegations that he sexually assaulted women.

The two officials said the criminal case involves allegations by Lucia Evans, a former actress who was among the first women to speak out about Weinstein. The case would be the first criminal charge against the film producer since scores of women began coming forward to accuse him of harassment or assault, triggering a cascade of accusations against media and entertainment figures that has become known as the #MeToo movement. The two officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation.

A grand jury has been hearing evidence in the case for weeks.

The charges Weinstein is expected to face weren’t immediately clear. Weinstein’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment.

Evans told The New Yorker in a story published in October that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex during a daytime meeting at his New York office in 2004, the summer before her senior year at Middlebury College.

“I said, over and over, ‘I don’t want to do this, stop, don’t,’ ” she told the magazine.

She didn’t report the incident to police at the time, telling The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow that she blamed herself for not fighting back.

In recent months, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has come under enormous public pressure to make a criminal case. Some women’s groups, including the Hollywood activist group Time’s Up, accused the Democrat of being too deferential to Weinstein and too dismissive of his accusers.