Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape, sex assault, but acquitted of predatory sexual assault
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Ex-movie mogul faces sentences of up to 25 years in prison
for criminal sexual acts
Zulekha Nathoo, Jessica Wong · CBC News
A New York jury has found Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault in a landmark case for the #MeToo movement, but the panel did not convict the former movie mogul of predatory sexual assault, which could have sent him to prison for life.
Weinstein, 67, was on trial for raping former actress Jessica Mann, now 34, in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.
He was also accused of forcibly performing oral sex in 2006 on former production assistant Miriam Haley, now 42, after getting her a job on the reality fashion series Project Runway. Haley changed her surname from Haleyi in 2017, after first going public with her accusation against Weinstein.
Weinstein was convicted of:
Rape in the third degree (involving Mann).
Criminal sexual act in the first degree (involving Haley).
A conviction of rape in the third degree means the jury recognized the sexual encounter was non-consensual, even if they didn't believe the victim was being physically or verbally threatened. It carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. There is no minimum sentence for this type of conviction.
For the charge of criminal sexual act in the first degree, the range for sentencing is between five and 25 years.
Weinstein convicted of third-degree rape of Jessica Mann, left, and first-degree sexual assault of Miriam Haley.
(Getty Images; The Associated Press)
"Weinstein is a vicious, serial sexual predator who used his power to threaten, rape, assault and trick, humiliate and silence his victims," District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said at a press conference after the verdict was announced.
"This is the new landscape for survivors of sexual assault in America …. It is a new day, because Harvey Weinstein has finally been held accountable for crimes he committed."
Weinstein will be required to register as a sex offender under New York law.
Judge James Burke ordered Weinstein taken into custody immediately, with court officers moving in to handcuff and lead him out of the courtroom.
After defence lawyer Donna Rotunno noted a further need for medical attention due to the producer's recent back surgery, Burke said he would request Weinstein be held in the infirmary.
Sentencing was set for March 11.
Finally, although I'm sure there will be appeals and probably he will be let out during the appeals. But the point is made - you can't use your power and position to rape young women. It's a concept that Weinstein still doesn't get. Bullies don't understand what bullying is; it's just normal behaviour to them.
It's vindication for the #MeToo movement, and hopefully will begin to curtail the rape culture in North America.
It's vindication for the #MeToo movement, and hopefully will begin to curtail the rape culture in North America.
It's interesting to note that this was also the day for a great celebration for Kobe Bryant's life. Tens of thousands of people populated the Staples Center in LA to speak and hear great platitudes of the former NBA superstar. Forgotten was the #MeToo moment for Bryant when he was dropped from a film festival jury because of allegations of a rape in 2003. somehow, he's been forgiven, apparently.
Olympic taekwondo brothers Steven and Jean Lopez are facing renewed allegations of sexual assault, including from a woman who came forward to claim that she was raped by Steven and two of his friends several years ago.
Audrey-Ann LeBlanc told The Daily Beast that she was sexually assaulted by Steven Lopez, along with two of his companions, in 2010 following a regional taekwondo tournament in Dallas, Texas, and alleges that she was drugged after accepting an alcoholic beverage from the three-time Olympic medalist.
"I began to have a feeling that something very bad was going to happen," she said of the incident, recalling that she was unable to move freely because of what she believes was a spiked drink.
Steven Lopez and at least one of his companions raped her soon after, she alleges, before she woke up in a state of undress in her own hotel room.
Amber Means, a member of the junior USA Taekwondo team, also says that Lopez raped her by using a similar method two years prior.
"It wasn’t an, 'Ooh, I feel queasy feeling,'" she said, detailing the effects of a drink she was given by Lopez. "'I was lucid and then it all went dark."
When she questioned Lopez the next day, she says he told her that they had consensual sex, after which he left and returned to see another man having sex with her. When Means suggested that this was gang-rape, Lopez allegedly told her that she "looked alright" to him.
Mandy Meloon, another former taekwondo participant, also claims that she was molested by Jean Lopez in 2006 when she was 16 years old. She also claims to have been raped by Steven Lopez and says that she was put off from contacting authorities for fear that she wouldn't be believed, however she says she did inform USA Taekwondo and the US Center for SafeSport.
There are several further such allegations by numerous women.
In January 2019, an arbitration hearing ruled in favor of Jean Lopez after he had been temporarily banned from coaching after being found by SafeSport to have taken part in a "decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct" involving "younger female athletes". Steven Lopez had a similar ban expunged a month beforehand.
"Given the number of incidents reported over a span of several years and by multiple reporting parties, most of whom have no reasonable motive to fabricate an allegation – much less multiple, distinct incidents – of misconduct, the totality of the circumstances clearly shows a recurrent pattern of behavior on the part of Jean," SafeSport wrote of Jean Lopez in their 2018 ruling.
Both Lopez brothers have denied the allegations against them.
Steven Spielberg 'concerned' over
daughter's porn career
Mikaela announced a while back that she would be
pursuing a career in adult film industry
IANS
Mikaela Spielberg
Los Angeles: Filmmaker Steven Spielberg is concerned over his daughter Mikaela Spielberg's decision to start a career as a porn star.
Mikaela announced a while back that she would be pursuing a career in adult film industry. While Spielberg has not publicly spoken on the issue yet, sources have shared the Hollywood mogul and his actress wife Kate Capshaw's reported reactions, reports aceshowbiz.com.
"As Mikaela said, Steven and Kate are nothing but supportive of her, as they are with all their children," a source said.
A second source, tagged as a family friend, however said: "Obviously, though, they're embarrassed by her sudden public admission of entry into the sex worker world. They're worried about how (Mikaela's revelation) looks for their other kids, who are trying to be supportive but who are also embarrassed. This certainly isn't how they were raised."
The source added: "Outwardly, Steven and Kate, who are the most evolved parents in the world and love their kids beyond all measure, have always been supportive of Mikaela and try to understand her."
While the Spielbergs let their children, including Mikaela, choose their own paths and "only want the best for her", they can't help becoming "concerned that this path might not end up being the best."
Why has Mikaela has chosen to be a porn star? "(Steven and Kate) are friends with many artistic people, and those people are complicated and some have complicated kids. Everybody gets it. Some kids, no matter what advantages, or even because of them, are just lost. Maybe Mikaela felt unworthy of her folks, of her name, that she could never live up to it. It's hard to be the product of parents who are so successful," the family friend observed.
The family friend goes on to say that "everyone recognises this had nothing to do with how Steven and Kate raised Mikaela", as the filmmaker is known as a person who is "kind beyond belief".
Sometimes it takes more than kindness to be a parent! Sometimes you actually have to be the parent.
Bahamians 'trying to come to grips' with rape allegations against Peter Nygard
Canadian fashion mogul faces new allegations of
sexual misconduct spanning decades
Bahamians are grappling with new and disturbing allegations, which have come in waves over the past few weeks, involving Canadian fashion designer Peter Nygard and his former neighbour, Louis Bacon, who both once lived in an exclusive gated community on the western tip of this Caribbean island.
The two wealthy men have been feuding in the courts for more than a decade. It started as a simple property dispute, and escalated into an all-out legal war.
The latest wave came Sunday in the form of an investigative report from the New York Times, which reported more than two dozen women have made allegations of rape or sexual misconduct against Nygard over the past 40 years.
Many of them were young Bahamian women.
Nygard has never been convicted of a crime involving sexual misconduct.
The Times also reported that two local women, who initially said they were raped, have now changed their story, claiming they were paid to lie.
A Google Earth view of Nygard's home in the Bahamas. (Google Earth)
The Times article follows a civil class-action lawsuit launched last week by a New York law firm, involving 10 women who claim they were raped by Nygard.
Those allegations haven't been proven in court.
The backdrop to the latest allegations against Nygard, 78, is a years-old dispute between him and Bacon, his former neighbour here. The two men once owned side-by-side estates.
Rev. C.B. Moss, a local church leader, environmentalist and well-known critic of Nygard, said Bahamians have witnessed the dispute between the two men play out for years.
"The backdrop is two non-Bahamians living in an exclusive area apparently ... at odds with each other," Moss told CBC News in an interview outside his church on Sunday.
"If these incidents did occur over a period of time it was a well kept secret … People are still trying to come to grips with it."
Nygard continues to deny all of the allegations, claiming they are part of a smear campaign by Bacon.
"Peter Nygard has fought off allegations of sexual misconduct levied against him over the past decade by opportunistic women intending to feed off a billionaire benefactor, Louis Bacon, and capitalize on the #MeToo movement to intimidate and extort Mr. Nygard into also paying them," said a statement issued by his spokesperson Sunday.
"The New York Times, after investigating Mr. Nygard for more than one year, has apparently arrived at the same conclusion — that women were tampered with, coerced and paid to assert false allegations against Mr. Nygard."
The statement said Nygard has already made a request to have the civil class-action lawsuit dismissed for these reasons.
Bacon issued his own statement Sunday. "I admire the brave women who had the courage to share their stories with The New York Times," he said.
"I was not looking for this fight, but once I heard repeated, credible reports from disgusted whistleblowers that Mr. Nygard was abusing young, vulnerable women, I could not ignore this disturbing information."
Bacon's statement said the allegations should now be investigated by law enforcement.
'Our failings as a nation'
The allegations have sparked front page headlines and editorials in the Bahamas in recent weeks.
One editorial in The Bahamas Tribune concluded the New York class-action suit filed againt Nygard "shows our failings as a nation." It urged the government to investigate the claims made in the lawsuit.
"Peter Nygard's story — if proved to be true — is one that will shock and appall with the nature of the alleged offences," the newspaper wrote.
"But it will be even worse if we allow these claims to play out in New York while sitting here doing nothing, pretending it's nothing to do with us. It's time to act."
The police in the Bahamas have said they are investigating allegations against Nygard, which were first reported to them in July, 2019.
Bribery allegations
More recently, there has also been a promise from the country's government to investigate claims that police officers and politicians were bribed by Nygard.
The New York class-action lawsuit alleges Nygard paid officials to keep his crimes a secret.
Marvin Dames is the National Security Minister in the Bahamas.
"Those are some serious allegations being made and I am certain the police would want to follow up on them to determine exactly whether there is any validity to them," Dames told the Bahamas Tribune.
"Anytime you have allegations of that nature being reported to law enforcement within or outside of the country, we have that obligation especially when the allegations are being made against public officials and law enforcement officials."
Legendary opera star Placido Domingo accepts ‘full responsibility’ for harassment allegations, after MeToo pressure mounts
FILE PHOTO: Placido Domingo speaks during an event at the Manhattan School of Music
© REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Facing a flurry of sexual harassment allegations, often anonymous and unconfirmed, the opera superstar has apologized to the women affected, encouraging others to follow suit.
In a statement delivered through Europa Press outlet, Placido Domingo acknowledged “full responsibility” for the allegations of sexual misconduct that surfaced last year. "Although it was not my intention, no one should ever feel that way,” the opera singer pointed out.
Back in mid-August, AP published a story which mentioned nine women — all but one anonymous — who claimed Domingo was inappropriately touching and kissing them, and making other unwanted advances.
The singer went on the defensive at first, saying the report was “inaccurate,” and insisted the incidents in question were consensual. Now, after “taking some time during the last months,” the Spanish tenor said he has “grown up with this experience.”
Going beyond bringing formal apologies, Domingo pledged making opera “a safer place to work.” While he stopped short of mentioning specific incidents, he stated that “no one has to go through the same.” Without calling names, he hoped that “my example will push others to follow my steps.”
Although the explosive AP report cited no concrete proof underpinning the allegations, it was enough for the proponents of MeToo movement advocate slapping heavy reprisals on the decorated tenor.
Shortly after the piece went public, Domingo was disinvited from the opening night of the Philadelphia Orchestra in September, where he was slated to perform. The San Francisco Opera followed suit, canceling an upcoming appearance by Domingo.
The singer himself vowed to never perform at Metropolitan Opera one day before the opening of ‘Macbeth,’ where he was poised to appear in the title role. The European operas have been more reserved, with many refusing to cave in to the American condemnation campaign.
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