Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been charged with assaulting another woman, this one in Britain, an independent investigator in the U.K. announced Wednesday.
Weinstein was hit with two counts of indecent assault stemming from an incident that allegedly happened in 1996 in London, Rosemary Ainslie, who heads the Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement.
The 70-year-old Weinstein was hit with the new charges “following a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation,” Ainslie said.
The woman, who is now in her 50s, was allegedly attacked by the producer between July 31 and August 31 of 1996, police said.
Britain, unlike many other countries, does not have a statute of limitations for rape or sexual assault.
“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”
The CPS is an independent agency that “prosecutes criminal cases that have been investigated by the police and other investigative organizations in England and Wales.”
Weinstein spokesman Juda Engelmayer said British authorities blindsided them with the new allegations.
“It is strange and even unhelpful for them to release this information without having interviewed him, given him any previous disclosure regarding the allegations and not producing an actual charge sheet, nor any plan of how they intend to proceed with the matter,” Engelmayer said. “At this point we have the same information as the media.”
Weinstein is being held in downtown Los Angeles at the Correctional Treatment Center, which is the medical unit within the Twin Towers jail, while he awaits trial on 11 charges of rape and sexual assault.
In 2020, a New York jury put the finishing touch on a landmark trial of the #MeToo era by convicting Weinstein of third-degree rape of Jessica Mann, a former aspiring actress, as well as a count of criminal sexual act in the first degree against Mimi Haley, a former “Project Runway” production assistant.
But the jury found him not guilty on two counts of predatory sexual assault, which each carried a sentence of up to life in prison. He was also acquitted on a count of first-degree rape against Mann.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York. He appealed the conviction, but a New York appeals upheld it last week.
Weinstein has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sexual encounters, his attorneys have said.
The co-founder of the Miramax entertainment company and The Weinstein Company film studio was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood.
The award-winning movies Weinstein was involved with include “The English Patient,” “Good Will Hunting” and “Chicago,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
