Harvey Weinstein Indicted by Grand Jury on Rape and Criminal Sex Act Charges

Disgraced filmmaker Harvey Weinstein was indicted Wednesday by a New York grand jury on charges of rape and committing a criminal sexual act.

"This indictment brings the defendant another step closer to accountability for the crimes of violence with which he is now charged," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement.

"Our office will try this case not in the press, but in the courtroom where it belongs. The defendant’s recent assault on the integrity of the survivors and the legal process is predictable. We are confident that when the jury hears the evidence, it will reject these attacks out of hand."

The charges were handed down just hours after Weinstein's attorney said the once-powerful producer would not appear before the grand jury because there wasn't enough time to prepare his testimony.

"Our request for a postponement of his appearance before the grand jury was denied," Weinstein attorney Ben Brafman said in a statement Wednesday morning.

Weinstein turned himself in to authorities in Manhattan Friday. He has pleaded not guilty.

Accuser Lucia Evans says Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004 in his Manhattan office. Another woman, who has not been identified, says he raped her in 2013 in a New York City hotel room.

RELATED STORIES