Harvey Weinstein hit with new charge of sexual assault in LA case

Harvey Weinstein was hit with a new sex assault charge in California, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced Friday in a statement.

The felony count of sexual battery by restraint stems from an alleged attack at a Beverly Hills hotel May 11, 2010, prosecutors said in a press release.

“We are continuing to build and strengthen our case,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement.

“As we gather corroborating evidence, we have reached out to other possible sexual assault victims. If we find new evidence of a previously unreported crime, as we did here, we will investigate and determine whether additional criminal charges should be filed.”

Investigators interviewed the new victim in October of 2019 as a possible corroborating witness in the case, officials said.

Last month, the accuser supplied information that confirmed that the assault occurred within the 10-year-statute of limitations, according to prosecutors.

Weinstein was first charged in LA last January with one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint for attacks on two women in separate 2013 incidents.

Lacey publicly announced the charges against Weinstein, 68, the day before jury selection began in his New York rape trial.

The LA rape charge stems from an Italian model’s allegations that Weinstein pushed his way into her room at Mr. C Beverly Hills hotel on Feb. 18, 2013 and assaulted her.

The next evening, Weinstein allegedly attacked Lauren Young inside his suite at the Montage Beverly Hills hotel.

Young told Manhattan jurors that he had trapped her in a bathroom and groped her while masturbating. Although Weinstein wasn’t charged with a crime against Young in the Manhattan case, her testimony was admitted to show that Weinstein had a pattern of luring women to hotel rooms and assaulting them.

A Manhattan jury convicted Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on former “Project Runway” production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi in 2006 and raping hairstylist Jessica Mann in 2013.

The former Hollywood kingmaker was sentenced last month to 23 years in prison and is currently serving his time at Wende Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

LA prosecutors said they had filed paperwork to extradite Weinstein to California. But it’s unclear how long the process will take amid the coronavirus pandemic that has caused courthouses on both coasts to suspend most operations.

Lacey also disclosed Friday that her office had declined to prosecute two other cases after the victims opted not to testify.

One of those victims is Mann, who testified at the Manhattan trial that Weinstein had also raped her in California. During the defense’s cross-examination, Mann broke into sobs on the stand. She told LA investigators she didn’t want to risk being re-traumatized.