The British Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday withdrew charges of sexual assault against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, saying there was insufficient evidence and that “there is no realistic indication that the case could lead to a conviction.”
Weinstein, 72, faced two charges for an alleged sexual assault that took place in 1996. The head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Frank Ferguson, said: “Following a review of the case, prosecutors have decided to stay the proceedings.”
In this regard, he asserted that the Prosecutor’s Office “has the duty to review all cases” and that, by extension, “it has stipulated that there are no realistic reasons to consider that this case would be resolved in a favourable way for the prosecution.” “We have already communicated our decision to the parties,” he said, according to a statement.
However, she stressed that “we will always encourage potential victims of sexual abuse and assault to go to the police and report it.” “We will always prosecute when we are allowed to do so within the framework of the law,” she stipulated.
Weinstein, a controversial figure in the film world, is currently serving a 16-year sentence for rape and sexual misconduct in New York City. The sentence is related to an incident in 2013 at a Los Angeles hotel during a film festival.
He is currently in the Rikers Island prison awaiting a new trial after a second 23-year prison sentence for rape — related to a case dating back to 2020 — was overturned earlier this year by a New York appeals court.
The sexual violence scandal surrounding Weinstein gave rise to the #MeToo movement in 2017, in which hundreds of women reported having suffered episodes of sexual abuse and which hit the American audiovisual industry.