Weinstein facing sexual assault charges in UK

Former American film producer Harvey Weinstein, whose abuse of women sparked the #MeToo movement in 2017, will be charged with sexual assault in the UK, British prosecutors announced on Wednesday.

wWWeinstein, 70, is charged with two counts of sexually assaulting a woman in London in 1996, Crown Prosecution said. The crimes would have occurred between July 31 and August 31 of that year, the police said, specifying that the alleged victim is now 50 years old.

In February 2020, Weinstein was convicted in the United States of rape and sexual assault and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Last week, he lost his bid to have the conviction overturned by a New York appeals court. In addition, he is awaiting trial in California.

Nearly 90 women, including American actresses Umar Thurman, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Mexican actress Salma Hayek, have accused him of harassment or assault since the case broke in 2017.

The producer of films like Pulp Fiction (1994) and Shakespeare in Love (1998) has always defended that his sexual encounters were consensual.

As the allegations in the United States unfolded, British police announced that they were also investigating a series of sexual assault allegations against Weinstein in the United Kingdom.

The head of the special crimes division of the prosecution, Rosemary Ainslie, said that the charges against Weinstein come as a result of “an analysis of the evidence” collected by Scotland Yard.