LONDON (AP) — Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood producer, will not be facing charges of indecent assault in the UK, according to an announcement from prosecutors on Thursday.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which had previously authorized two charges of indecent assault against Weinstein in 2022, stated that they chose to drop the case because there was “no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.”
The CPS added in their statement, “We have communicated our decision to all involved parties. We encourage anyone who may have been a victim of sexual assault to come forward and report it to the police, and we will take action whenever our legal criteria are met.”
Weinstein became a central figure in the #MeToo movement in 2017 when numerous women began sharing their experiences of his misconduct. Following these accounts, British police opened investigations into several allegations of sexual assault spanning from the 1980s to 2015.
In June 2022, the CPS announced that they had given permission to London’s Metropolitan Police Service to file two charges of indecent assault against Weinstein regarding an alleged incident that took place in London back in 1996. At the time of the announcement, the victim was in her 50s.
It’s important to note that unlike many countries, the UK does not impose a statute of limitations on cases of rape or sexual assault.
Weinstein, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing involving rape or sexual assault, is currently in custody in New York as he awaits a retrial in Manhattan, as mentioned by prosecutors in August.
Following this retrial, he is scheduled to begin serving a 16-year sentence in California related to a separate rape conviction from Los Angeles. In 2022, while already serving a 23-year sentence in New York, Weinstein was convicted in Los Angeles.
Earlier this year, his 2020 conviction in Manhattan was overturned by the state’s highest court, which determined that the trial judge had improperly allowed testimonies related to allegations that were not part of the case against him.
Weinstein, who co-founded the Miramax entertainment company and The Weinstein Company film studio, was once one of Hollywood’s most influential figures, known for producing notable films like “Pulp Fiction” and “The Crying Game.”
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This report was contributed to by Associated Press writer Brian Melley.
