Harvey Weinstein accused of sexually assaulting minor 'for years'

Anonymous complainant said Weinstein reportedly forced himself on her and continued harassing for over a decade

NEW YORK: Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor in an updated class action lawsuit filed in a New York court on Wednesday.

Weinstein denied the accusation through his lawyer Ben Brafman, who told industry magazine Variety the claim was "preposterous."
The complainant, identified anonymously as "Jane Doe," said she is a resident and citizen of Poland who met Weinstein when she was 16-years-old at an event with her modeling agency in New York in 2002.

Weinstein leaves Manhattan criminal court with his lawyer Benjamin Brafman (R) -- one of America's most celebrated criminal defense attorneysPHOTO: AFP

He gave her his business card and invited her to lunch three days later, offering to pick her up with his driver, the complaint said.

"Instead of taking them to a restaurant, Weinstein's driver dropped the two at Weinstein's Soho apartment," the complaint added.



She realised the pair were alone, whereupon he began "aggressively and threateningly demanding sex."

The woman alleged Weinstein forced her to touch his genitals while he bullied and cajoled her, telling her he had the power to make her career.

PHOTO: REUTERS

She added that Weinstein continued to make advances and harassed her for nearly a decade, until 2011, harming her mental and physical health.

"This claim is preposterous. Like so many other women in this case who have already been exposed as liars, this latest completely uncorroborated allegation that is almost 20-year-old will also be shown to be patently false," said Brafman.



The complaint is an update to a class action suit accusing Weinstein, his brother Bob, and board members of the Weinstein Company of racketeering. The original suit was dismissed in September.

PHOTO:FILE

Weinstein, an international pariah after being accused by more than 80 women of sexual misconduct, is also facing criminal charges, including one count of rape and one of oral sex, which could see him spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.

For decades, he was the kingmaker lording it over Hollywood. Meryl Streep famously called “God.” The most famous pariah of the #MeToo cause, is now facing rape charges.

It’s been over a year since the Oscar-winning mogul was hit by bombshell articles in The New York Times and New Yorker magazine accusing him of decades of sexual harassment, assault and rape.

PHOTO: AFP

Since then, women have come forward alleging 40 years of impropriety that sparked a sexual harassment watershed, ending the careers of powerful men and spawning the global #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.

“I came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, when all the rules about behaviour and workplaces were different,” the 66-year-old said in a bizarre statement in October that apologised for and yet appeared to justify his behaviour. “That was the culture then,” said Weinstein.

While he denies any non-consensual activity, he disappeared from public life, surfacing occasionally from reported sex addiction treatment, his name toxic and his reputation destroyed.

PHOTO: CNN

The one-time Democratic Party donor, who hobnobbed with Hillary Clinton and had a personal fortune estimated at $150 million, was hit with an avalanche of civil lawsuits.

He turned himself into a New York police station before being charged with first and third degree rape in 2013, seemingly in a Midtown Manhattan hotel, and a criminal sex act in the first degree in 2004.



His lawyer Brafman has then said the former Hollywood legend, who for decades produced box office and critically claimed hits, would plead not guilty.

“Bad behaviour is not on trial in this case,” Brafman told reporters. “Mr Weinstein did not invent the casting couch in Hollywood and to the extent that there is bad behaviour in that industry…that is not what this is about.”

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