LAPD Confirms Harvey Weinstein Rape Investigation

By Julia Wick

Published Oct 18, 2017 11:00 PM

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On Thursday, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that they were investigating disgraced megaproducer Harvey Weinstein in relation to a sexual assault case that allegedly occurred in 2013. This is the first case against Weinstein under investigation in Southern California; police in New York and London are both already investigating multiple cases involving Weinstein.

The L.A. Times reports that a 38-year-old Italian model-actress met with LAPD detectives "for more than two hours" on Thursday morning, "providing a detailed account" of how Weinstein allegedly raped her at Mr. C Beverly Hills hotel after an Italian film festival in February 2013. Here is what she told the Times:

Later, he showed up “without warning” in the lobby of her hotel. He asked to come up to her room. She said she told him no and offered to meet him downstairs, but soon, he was knocking on her door. “He ... bullied his way into my hotel room, saying, ‘I’m not going to [have sex with] you, I just want to talk,’” the woman told The Times. “Once inside, he asked me questions about myself, but soon became very aggressive and demanding and kept asking to see me naked. He grabbed me by the hair and forced me to do something I did not want to do. He then dragged me to the bathroom and forcibly raped me.”

She told her attorney she tried to dissuade Weinstein by showing him pictures of her children.

After about 45 minutes, Weinstein departed.

"It was the most demeaning thing ever done to me by far. It sickens me still," she said, telling the Times that she was afraid to report Weinstein to authorities at the time, but confided in a priest, a friend and a nanny. According to the Times, the alleged victim is a well-known actress in Italy, where she was living at the time of the incident. She has since moved to California.

Weinstein representative Sallie Hofmeister told the Times he has “unequivocally denied” all allegations of non-consensual sex.

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“The Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery Homicide Division has interviewed a potential sexual assault victim involving Harvey Weinstein which allegedly occurred in 2013,” LAPD Officer Tony Im said in a statement on Thursday afternoon. “The case is under investigation." The departmenthad previously urged potential victims of Weinstein to come forward, saying "We absolutely encourage anyone who may be a victim of sexual assault to come forward and report the crime."