Harvey Weinstein charged with new sex crimes

LOS ANGELES: Harvey Weinstein has been hit  by new sex crimes in Los Angeles with  raping one woman and sexually assaulting another.

The charges were announced on Monday when his high-profile trial in a separate case opened in New York on Monday , kicking off proceedings key to the #MeToo movement.

In the new case, the disgraced movie mogul is accused of assaulting the two women within a two-day period. He is alleged to have raped one woman after forcing his way into her hotel room on February 18, 2013. The next evening, he allegedly sexually assaulted a second woman at a hotel suite in Beverly Hills.

Weintstein has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and his attorney was not available  for comment on Monday.

Prosecutors filed four charges of  forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by force, and sexual battery by restraint. Weinstein faces up to 28 years in prison if convicted.

“We believe the evidence will show that the defendant used his power and influence to gain access to his victims and then commit violent crimes against them,” Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement.

“I want to commend the victims who have come forward and bravely recounted what happened to them,” she added. “It is my hope that all victims of sexual violence find strength and healing as they move forward.”

Earlier Monday, Weinstein entered the New York state courthouse looking frail in a dark suit and using a walker, more than two years after a slew of allegations against him triggered waves of outrage over pervasive sexual assault in the workplace, leading to the downfall of dozens of powerful men.

Demonstrators anchored by actresses Rose McGowan and Rosanna Arquette, two of Weinstein´s most prominent accusers, gathered outside the Manhattan court wielding signs with slogans like “Justice for survivors.”

“Time´s up on sexual harassment in all work places,” Arquette said. “Time´s up on empty apologies without consequences. And time´s up on the pervasive culture of silence that has enabled abusers like Weinstein.”

The first day in court was largely technical and lasted just over an hour, with Justice James Burke rejecting a defense request that the jury be sequestered.

Weinstein did not speak during the hearing or to reporters outside. He is unlikely to testify during the trial.

Almost 90 women, including Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, have accused the 67-year-old of sexual misconduct since a media outlet detailed claims against him in October 2017.

But Weinstein, once one of Hollywood´s most influential figures, is being tried in New York on charges related to just two women, highlighting the difficulty of building cases around incidents that took place years ago.

Former production assistant Mimi Haleyi alleges that the “Pulp Fiction” producer forcibly performed oral sex on her in his New York apartment in July 2006.

The second alleged victim is anonymous. She says Weinstein, the co-founder of Miramax Films, raped her in a New York hotel room in March 2013.

Weinstein has always maintained that his sexual relationships were consensual.

A conviction would signal a watershed moment in the #MeToo movement´s fight against sexual harassment and abuse of power in Hollywood and beyond.

On Monday, Sarah Ann Masse, an actress who says Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she interviewed for a job as a nanny in 2008, voiced support for those testifying, sending them “so much strength and courage.”

His defense team has been trying to undermine the allegations of the two New York accusers long before the start of the trial.