Harvey Weinstein was charged on Monday with three more counts of felony sexual assault.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office announced Monday that a grand jury has charged the once-powerful Hollywood producer with a criminal sexual act in the first degree for forcing sex on a third woman in 2006, as well as two counts of predatory sex assault.
Weinstein has already pleaded not guilty to a New York grand jury’s three May charges of rape and a criminal sex act involving two women. If convicted on the new charges, he would face from ten years to life in prison.
The movie-industry mogul “has always maintained that he has never engaged in nonconsensual sexual behavior with anyone. Nothing about today’s proceedings changes Mr. Weinstein’s position. He has entered a plea of not guilty and fully expects to be exonerated,” his attorney said.
Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance on Monday said that the charges against the disgraced producer are “some of the most serious sexual offenses that exist under New York’s penal law,” and praised the “extraordinary courage” of Weinstein’s “survivors” in coming forward. He added that “there is still time to pursue justice” for the defendant’s alleged crimes.
Weinstein is out on $1 million bail since his May 25 arrest and will make his next New York City court appearance in September. More than 80 women in total have now accused him of sexual misconduct or assault.