By Oyintari Ben
Harvey Weinstein, a former Hollywood movie mogul, was found guilty of rape in court in Los Angeles on Monday.
According to several news sources, Weinstein was convicted on three of seven offenses, including forceful rape, forced oral copulation, and sexual penetration by a foreign object.
Using information from an unnamed woman who allegedly claimed Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a Beverly Hills hotel room in 2013, the jury debated for about two weeks before reaching the guilty findings.
He allegedly lured aspiring actors into secret meetings using his Hollywood connections before sexually assaulting them, according to the prosecution.
Rapists commit rape. Paul Thompson, a prosecutor, suggested that you examine the pattern. “You have overwhelming, unchallengeable proof about this man’s character and what he did to these women.”
The charges against their client, according to Weinstein’s attorneys, were either made up or came about voluntarily as a result of a “transactional connection” with the film producer.
They underlined the lack of any assault-related evidence, and defense counsel Alan Jackson referred to the accusers as “fame and wealth seekers.”
The 70-year-old Weinstein is already serving a 23-year jail term in New York after being found guilty of several rapes there.
Early in the next year, he will receive a sentence in the Los Angeles case. Whatever the verdict, Weinstein must serve out his existing sentence in New York jail first before being extradited to California.
Since 2017, more than 100 women have accused Weinstein of rape, sexual assault, or inappropriate behaviour.
