(JTA) — Harvey Weinstein turned himself in to police custody in New York on rape and sexual abuse charges.
The disgraced movie mogul, who is Jewish, surrendered in Manhattan on Friday on charges that he raped one woman and forced another to perform oral sex on him, the officials told The New York Times on Thursday.
The charges follow an avalanche of accusations against him that following their publication in October led women around the world, some famous and many who are not, to come forward with accounts of being sexually harassed and assaulted by powerful men.
Weinstein, who has denied engaging in nonconsensual sex, will be charged with first-degree rape and third-degree rape in one case, and with first-degree criminal sex act in another, law enforcement officials told The Times, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Weinstein is suing to obtain documents and files belonging to The Weinstein Co. – a firm he helped establish but which dismissed him in October following the accounts of his alleged sexual exploitation of women. He said the information in the papers will help clear his name.
The company has declared bankruptcy and its assets have been put on sale.
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