LAPD Investigating Rape Claim Against Harvey Weinstein
The LAPD has opened an investigation into whether Harvey Weinstein raped an Italian model in 2013.
The model, whose name was not disclosed, reported her allegations to police on Thursday. The woman told the Los Angeles Times that Weinstein bullied his way into her hotel room at Mr. C Beverly Hills — a hotel within Los Angeles city limits — and then forcibly raped her in the bathroom.
“The Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery Homicide Division has interviewed a potential sexual assault victim involving Harvey Weinstein which allegedly occurred in 2013,” said LAPD spokesman Officer Tony Im. “The case is under investigation.”
The woman, 38, told the Times that Weinstein invited himself up to her room, and then demanded to see her naked before raping her.
“When he left, he acted like nothing happened,” she told the Times. “I barely knew this man. It was the most demeaning thing ever done to me by far. It sickens me still. … He made me feel like an object, like nothing, with all his power.”
Under California law, rape has a 10-year statute of limitations. So Weinstein could be prosecuted if sufficient evidence is found to move ahead with a case.
“Mr. Weinstein obviously can’t speak to anonymous allegations, but he unequivocally denies allegations of non-consensual sex,” said his spokesman Sallie Ho.
Weinstein resigned from the board of the Weinstein Company on Tuesday, as fallout continues from his sex harassment scandal. He was fired as co-chairman of the company a week earlier.
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