Harvey Weinstein Charged With Assaulting 3rd Woman, DA Says

NEW YORK, NY — Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexually assualting a third woman in a new indictment released Monday. The disgraced movie mogul allegedly forced oral sex on the woman in Manhattan in July 2006, the indictment says, leading to new charges including predatory sexual assault — for which he could face life in prison.

"A Manhattan Grand Jury has now indicted Harvey Weinstein on some of the most serious sexual offenses that exist under New York’s Penal Law," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement. "This indictment is the result of the extraordinary courage exhibited by the survivors who have come forward."

Weinstein is set to be arraigned on the new indictment on July 9. His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said Weinstein will plead not guilty to the charges.

"Mr Weinstein maintains that all of these allegations are false and he expects to be fully vindicated," Brafman said in a statement Monday. "Furthermore to charge Mr Weinstein as a Predator when the interactions were each consensual is simply not justified."

Weinstein pleaded not guilty last month to two counts of rape and and one count of criminal sexual act stemming from two alleged assualts nine years apart.

He was charged Monday with criminal sexual act and predatory sexual assault in connection with the 2006 incident, in which he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on the unidentified woman, according to the indictment.

Monday's indictment also charged Weinstein with predatory sexual assault for his alleged 2013 rape of a woman in a Manhattan hotel. Another woman, reportedly identified as the onetime actress Lucia Evans, has accused Weinstein of forcing her to perform oral sex on him in 2004.

Weinstein now faces criminal responsibility for violating three of the dozens of women who have accused him of harassment, assault and rape in recent months, sparking the nationwide #MeToo movement against sexual violence.

Manhattan prosecutors are continuing to investigate Weintein, Vance said.

(Lead image: Harvey Weinstein enters Manhattan Criminal Court with his attorney, Benjamin Brafman, on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. Photo by Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)