It’s official. Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of crimes related to rape and sexual assault. He now faces anywhere between 5-25 years of prison time. Being associated as the evildoer who kickstarted the #MeToo era clearly does a disservice when you are trying to plead your case in the courtroom, alas, it does look as though the evidence was too overwhelming to dismiss.
The news only gets worse for Weinstein as he is set to begin another trial in Los Angeles County, where he faces multiple other charges related to sexual assault.
The trial lasted 8 weeks, with deliberation spanning five days, but this conviction of criminal sexual assault in the first degree and rape in the third degree (via Deadline) marks the end of an era. The sexual assault conviction stems from allegations brought forth by former “Project Runway” assistant Miriam Haley, who claimed that Weinstein forced himself on her to perform oral sex in an NYC apartment back in ‘06. The rape conviction is based on the allegation of Jessica Mann, a former actress who said that Weinstein raped her in a hotel room in March 2013.
Sentencing should be coming any day now. Weinstein is set to appeal these two convictions.
The #MeToo movement started in October of 2017 when articles started getting published about Weinstein’s crude and inappropriate behaviors towards women, eventually, this kickstarted a domino effect which had many more women coming out and accusing not just Weinstein but a slew of other high-profile celebs, politicians, public figures.