Horrific Hollywood mogul-turned-monster Harvey Weinstein was scooped from his New York penitentiary under the cover of darkness to journey to Los Angeles and stand trial for additional sex crimes, Your Content is first to report.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced today that former film producer Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on charges that he sexually assaulted five women in separate incidents that span nearly a decade.
“Anyone who abuses their power and influence to prey upon others will be brought to justice,” District Attorney Gascón said.
Weinstein made his initial court appearance today after being extradited from New York. He pleaded not guilty to four counts each of forcible rape and forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count of sexual penetration by use of force. The indictment was unsealed today.
He is scheduled to return to court on July 29 for a motions hearing in Department 110 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
A grand jury returned the indictment, case BA484270, on March 15.
The defendant is charged with raping a woman at a hotel between September 2004 and September 2005. He also is accused of raping another woman on two separate occasions in November 2009 and November 2010 at a hotel in Beverly Hills.
Weinstein also is charged with sexually assaulting another woman at a Beverly Hills hotel in May 2010 and charged with sexually assaulting two women during separate incidents in 2013.
The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police departments and the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation.