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Harvey Weinstein Surrenders To Police, Charged With Rape and Sex Abuse

May 25, 2018 | Posted by Joseph Lee
Harvey Weinstein - Dick Ebersol

We reported yesterday that Harvey Weinstein was set to be charged with a sex crime in New York city after months of investigation. Now TMZ reports that Weinstein has surrendered to the NYPD and walked out in handcuffs on his way to court. He was charged with rape, sex abuse and sexual misconduct against two separate women. He was led by marshals at the 1st Precinct.

The complaint states that Weinstein was charged with “engaging in sexual intercourse with another person by forcible compulsion.” The claim is that on March 18, 2013, “defendant kept informant physically against her will in a room and engaged in sexual intercourse with informant by forcible compulsion, to wit, defendant penetrated informant’s vagina with his penis and, at the time of the incident informant had clearly expressed her lack of consent to the act.”

The incident involving the other woman, named Lucia Evans, happened in 2004. The complaint states that “defendant forced informant to engage in oral sexual conduct, to wit, defendant grabbed the back of informant’s head forcing her head downward and forcing her mouth onto his penis.”

Weinstein’s bail has been set for $10 million. He was released after posting a million in cash and was given a monitoring device to track him. If he wants to go somewhere other than New York or Connecticut, he will need approval from the judge. He also gave up his passport at the hearing and did not enter a plea.

His lawyer, Ben Brafman, said: “Mr. Weinstein has always maintained that he has never engaged in non-consensual sexual behavior with anyone. Nothing about today’s proceedings changes Mr. Weinstein’s position. Mr. Weinstein maintains that he is Not Guilty of the charges filed today and is confident that he will be fully exonerated.

Brafman admitted that Weinstein may have committed “bad behavior” but not criminal behavior. He added that his client didn’t invent the casting couch.

The judge issued a temporary order of protection, which means that Weinstein cannot contact one of his victims. It’s unknown why that didn’t apply to both.

The NYPD said: “The NYPD thanks these brave survivors for their courage to come forward and seek justice.

Meanwhile, TMZ adds that the US Attorney in New York City is also investigating the disgraced producer but have yet to file charges. It’s possible they may rely on a somewhat obscure law to prosecute. They are currently attempting to see if Weinstein violated the Mann Act, which prevents people from taking others across state lines for illegal sex acts. It was created to stop adults from taking minors over state lines for sex. The law states that the supect has to have intent to commit the act before going over state lines.

Prosecutors are looking at one actress that Weinstein flew from one state to another. They will have to prove he asked her to travel knowing he would rape her when she arrived. The problem is that while Weinstein may have wanted sex, he may not have assumed that he would have to rape her.

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Harvey Weinstein, Joseph Lee