A grand jury voted to indict Harvey Weinstein on three charges, including rape, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced Wednesday.
The once-powerful movie mogul, who was arrested last week, has been indicted on charges of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the first and third degrees.
“This indictment brings the defendant another step closer to accountability for the crimes of violence with which he is now charged,” 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.”
Vance added: “We are confident that when the jury hears the evidence, it will reject these attacks out of hand.”
The indictment came just hours after Weinstein lawyer Ben Brafman’s office announced that its request to postpone Weinstein’s appearance before the grand jury was denied. Brafman said in a statement that “an indictment was inevitable due to the unfair political pressure” on Vance.
“After being unfairly denied access to critical information about this case that was needed to defend him before the Grand Jury, Mr. Weinstein’s attorneys decided that there was not sufficient time to properly prepare Mr. Weinstein,” said the statement released to media outlets.
Weinstein has denied that he had non-consensual sexual encounters.
The charges stem from incidents in 2004 and 2013, involving two women.
Vance said the investigation remains ongoing and urged “additional survivors and others with relevant information” to contact his office. The next schedule court date remains July 30.