Harvey Weinstein will be charged with rape in New York, according to officials.
The 66-year-old disgraced movie mogul – who has been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women – is expected to turn himself in to police in Manhattan on Friday (25.05.18), where he will face charges alleging that he raped one woman and forced another to perform oral sex on him, according to law enforcement officials.
According to the New York Times, the officials – who are speaking on the condition of anonymity – have revealed Weinstein will be charged with first-degree rape and third-degree rape in one case, and with first-degree criminal sex act in another.
The victim of the rape case has not been publicly identified, but the criminal sex act charge stems from an encounter with Lucia Evans, who alleged in October last year that Weinstein had once forced her to perform oral sex on him during a casting meeting at the Miramax office.
The New York Times also reports that Weinstein has agreed to surrender himself to police on Friday, where he will be taken to Manhattan Criminal Court to be arraigned on the charges.
Weinstein will put up $1 million in cash as part of a bail package negotiated in advance, and will agree to wear a monitoring device, as well as surrendering his passport so he cannot leave the country.
The producer’s upcoming charges come just days after it was reported he was under federal investigation in New York.
The US attorney’s office was said to be looking into whether the producer "enticed or persuaded any women to cross state lines with the intent of committing a sex crime", and Weinstein’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman immediately denied the claims.
He said: "Mr. Weinstein has always maintained that he has never engaged in non-consensual sexual acts."
Over 60 women – including Cara Delevingne, Eva Green, Daryl Hannah, Salma Hayek, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Beckinsale – have come forward to make allegations against Weinstein since the New York Times and New Yorker’s exposes in October, which documented decades of alleged sexual misconduct.
The producer has largely retreated from the public eye since the allegations were made but has denied many of the claims.
His spokesperson previously said: "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances."
Harvey Weinstein to be charged with rape
