SWINE-STEIN FACES CHARGES TODAY
Harv to surrender in sex raps 04 attack on student actress, at least 1 other vic
HARVEY WEINSTEIN is expected to surrender to authorities Friday to face sex assault charges in connection with attacks on multiple women.
The fallen Hollywood honcho is expected to be charged with preying on Lucia Evans, who told investigators that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004, and at least one other accuser, sources said.
His attorney Benjamin Brafman declined to comment Thursday.
Evans told The New Yorker she was an incoming college senior trying to break into the film business when she met Weinstein at a nightclub.
The movie mogul invited her to the Miramax office. Soon after she arrived for the daytime meeting, Evans said, Weinstein pulled her head down to his crotch.
“I said, over and over, ‘I don’t want to do this. Stop! Don’t!’ ” she told the magazine.
“I tried to get away, but maybe I didn’t try hard enough. I didn’t want to kick him or fight him.”
Evans said the hulking Weinstein ultimately “overpowered” her. “I just sort of gave up,” she said. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is expected to bring charges against Weinstein after a months-long probe with the NYPD, sources said.
Because of the nature of the allegations, the statute of limitations does not apply.
Weinstein is expected to surrender to a police precinct for fingerprinting before he’s arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court. Prosecutors are expected to ask for $1 million bail and an electronic ankle monitor, sources said.
Some of Weinstein’s accusers celebrated the news they’ve been waiting decades to hear.
“I, and so many of Harvey Weinstein’s survivors, had given up hope that our rapist would be held accountable by law,” actress Rose McGowan told Variety.
“Twenty years ago, I swore that I would right this wrong. Today we are one step closer to justice.”
Weinstein’s anticipated surrender marks the latest chapter in the stunning downfall of one of Hollywood’s most powerful figures.
I said, over and over, ‘I don’t want to do this, stop, don’t.’ I tried to get away, but maybe I didn’t try hard enough. LUCIA EVANS
More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment, assault or rape, including A-list actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd and Angelina Jolie. Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing. The 66-year-old divorced dad is facing legal peril on multiple fronts.
A special grand jury was convened weeks ago to hear evidence on potential sex crimes and financial fraud related to the payoffs of victims.
Manhattan federal prosecutors, meanwhile, are probing whether Weinstein broke stalking laws in his dealings with women, according to The New York Times.
Among those known to have come forward to authorities is actress Paz de la Huerta, who has claimed Weinstein raped her twice in 2010. She spoke to cops in late October. The first attack allegedly took place after Weinstein gave the former “Boardwalk Empire” star a ride home.
“It wasn’t consensual,” de la Huerta told Vanity Fair.
“It happened very quickly. He stuck himself inside me. When he was done, he said he’d be calling me. I kind of just laid back on the bed in shock.”
Investigators have traveled as far as Los Angeles and the United Kingdom to interview accusers and witnesses.
The Weinstein case had already exposed a rift between the police and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.’s office.
NYPD investigators had pushed for an arrest after an Italian actress accused him of groping her during a meeting in his Tribeca office in 2015.
Vance opted not to prosecute even though Weinstein was secretly caught on tape apologizing to the woman, Ambra Battilana. Gov. Cuomo later ordered the state attorney general to open a probe into Vance’s handling of the Battilana case. A flood of women came forward last year with chilling stories of sexual abuse at the hands of Weinstein, giving rise to the #MeToo movement. A series of subsequent exposés detailed the lengths Weinstein went to in order to bury allegations against him, employing the help of the National Enquirer and former Israeli spies. He bought the silence of some of the women — including McGowan who reached a $100,000 settlement with Weinstein after she says he assaulted her in 1997. In March, Vance and thenNYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce (photo left) suggested the investigations were bearing fruit.
“We have a lot of information that we handed over to the grand jury,” Boyce said at the time.
“I’ve spoken with the police, and I can tell you we are working very hard with them to complete the investigation,” Vance said.
Weinstein is also the subject of criminal probes in Los Angeles and London.
Weinstein’s life and reputation imploded last year after he was outed as a serial sex predator.
His wife of nine years ditched him. The film company he built severed ties with him. And the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expelled him.
Weinstein — who was once worth as much as $300 million — also faces an avalanche of lawsuits and financial ruin.
A former Netflix associate producer filed a $10 million lawsuit against Weinstein in December.
An unidentified actress filed a separate $14 million case against him in Toronto.