Movie producer Harvey Weinstein is expected to turn himself in on sex-abuse related charges in New York City, a source familiar with the case says. Jonathan Dienst reports.
Movie producer Harvey Weinstein is expected to turn himself in Friday on sex-abuse related charges in New York City, a source familiar with the case told News 4.
The revelation comes a day after sources told NBC News that a state grand jury convened to hear evidence in connection with sex abuse allegations against the famed producer.
Weinstein is expected to surrender at NYPD's 1st Precinct station Friday morning, according to two sources familiar with the case. He'll be processed, including having his fingerprints and photo taken, and be issued an arrest ID.
He will then be transported to 100 Centre St. for his court appearance on a felony complaint stemming from allegations from two women, the sources say. There is no indictment at this time, but it is expected to come in the next week or two.
After his court appearance, he's expected to walk out of court on $1 million bail, with an ankle bracelet, sources say.
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 precise charges Weinstein is expected to face weren't immediately clear. Weinstein's attorney, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment. Weinstein has said repeatedly, through his lawyers, that he did not have nonconsensual sex with anyone.
Actress Lucia 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. "I tried to get away, but maybe I didn't try hard enough. I didn't want to kick him or fight him."
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.
"It was always my fault for not stopping him," she said.
Actress Rose McGowan, one of Weinstein's most outspoken accusers, said in a statement, "I, and so many of Harvey Weinstein¹s survivors, had given up hope that our rapist would be held accountable by law. Twenty years ago, I swore that I would right this wrong. Today we are one step closer to justice. We were young women who were assaulted by Weinstein and later terrorized by his vast network of complicity. I stand with my fellow survivors. May this give hope to all victims and survivors everywhere that are telling their truths."
Another of Weinstein's accusers, Dominique Huett, said in a statement to NBC News that "this was a very systematic pattern of abuse which was rarely considered a crime by a culture in the entertainment business that continually perpetuated it."
"I am sadly reminded of all of the women’s lives he destroyed and careers that were hindered from this abuse. I know a lot of women feel vindicated in regard to this arrest being held to standard as an illegal criminal act and the court process should reveal the verdict for the crimes of which he is accused in a court of law," said Huett. "This is a step in the right direction for abuse to be taken seriously and progress be made to abolish abuses of power. It feels as if justice has begun to be served."
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.
In March, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took the extraordinary step of ordering the state's attorney general to investigate whether Vance acted properly in 2015 when he decided not to prosecute Weinstein over a previous allegation of unwanted groping, made by an Italian model.
Vance had insisted any decision would be based on the strength of the evidence, not on political considerations.
Weinstein was fired from the company he co-founded and expelled from the organization that bestows the Academy Awards last fall after The New York Times and The New Yorker published articles about his treatment of women, including multiple allegations that he groped actresses, exposed himself to them or forced them into unwanted sex.
Local
His accusers included some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Several actresses and models accused him of criminal sexual assaults, including film actress Rose McGowan, who said Weinstein raped her in 1997 in Utah, "Sopranos" actress Annabella Sciorra, who said he raped her in her New York apartment in 1992, and the Norwegian actress Natassia Malthe, who said he attacked her in a London hotel room in 2008. Another aspiring actress, Mimi Haleyi, said Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in his New York apartment in 2006.
New York City police detectives said in early November that they were investigating allegations by another accuser, "Boardwalk Empire" actress Paz de la Huerta, who told police in October that Weinstein raped her twice in 2010.
It's not clear whether Weinstein will face additional charges involving other women.
