LOS ANGELES
Former film producer Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on charges that he sexually assaulted
five women in separate incidents that span nearly a decade, officials announced Wednesday.
“Anyone who abuses their power and influence to prey upon others will be brought to justice,” District Attorney George Gascón said.
Weinstein made his initial court appearance Wednesday after being extradited from New York. He pleaded not guilty to four counts each of forcible rape and forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery by restraint, and one count of sexual penetration by use of force.
The indictment was unsealed Wednesday.
He is scheduled to return to court on next week for a hearing.
A grand jury returned the indictment, on March 15.
The defendant is charged with raping a woman at a hotel between September 2004 and September 2005. He also is accused of raping another woman on two separate occasions in November 2009 and November 2010 at a hotel in Beverly Hills.
Weinstein also is charged with sexually assaulting another woman at a Beverly Hills hotel in May 2010 and charged with sexually assaulting two women during separate incidents in 2013.
The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police departments and the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation.