British prosecutors announced on Thursday that they were dropping the sexual assault charges brought in 2022 in the United Kingdom against disgraced Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement that after reviewing the evidence, “there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction” in the case, which concerned the alleged sexual assault of a woman in August 1996.
“In June 2022, the British prosecutor’s office gave the green light to the indictment of the American producer, whose crimes sparked the #MeToo movement in 2017, “for two counts of sexual assault.”
“We will always encourage all potential victims of sexual assault to come forward and contact the police, and we will prosecute (those responsible) wherever the legal criteria are met,” he insisted on Thursday.
Retried in New York
Harvey Weinstein, arrested in 2018, is being held for sexual assault and rape in the United States.
The 72-year-old former producer is due to be retried in New York soon after an appeals court overturned his 2020 conviction in late April for the 2013 rape of actress Jessica Mann and the 2006 sexual assault of production assistant Mimi Haleyi.
He remains in custody pending a 2023 conviction to 16 years in prison in Los Angeles for other rape and sexual assault charges.
Planetary shock wave
The revelations in 2017 about his sexual assaults triggered a global shockwave and freed the voice of many victims. More than 80 women accused him of harassment, sexual assault or rape, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd.
The 72-year-old former producer was hospitalized last July after contracting Covid and double pneumonia. He also suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure.
- BFMTV.com
