Silke Jasso
After being found guilty of the 2013 rape and sexual assault of an Italian actress and model, Harvey Weinstein was sentenced by a Los Angeles judge to 16 years in prison. This additional sentence is in addition to the over 20 years he was already sentenced to serve for a similar conviction in New York in 2020. This marks a significant downfall for the former movie mogul who has become synonymous with the #MeToo movement.
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During the sentencing, Weinstein directly appealed to the judge, Lisa B. Lench, claiming his innocence, saying, “I maintain that I’m innocent. I never raped or sexually assaulted Jane Doe 1.” However, the woman he was convicted of raping, referred to as Jane Doe 1, cried in the courtroom as he spoke. Moments earlier, she had shared with the judge the pain she experienced after being attacked by Weinstein.
“Before that night I was a very happy and confident woman. I valued myself and the relationship I had with God,” the woman, who was identified only as Jane Doe 1, stated. “I was excited about my future. Everything changed after the defendant brutally assaulted me. There is no prison sentence long enough to undo the damage.”
Harvey Weinstein Gets 16 Years for Rape
On Thursday, Judge Lench handed down the sentence to Weinstein after dismissing a motion from his legal team for a new trial. Back in December, the jury found Weinstein guilty of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against a woman who gave an emotional account of being assaulted by him during a film festival, this after he had talked his way into her hotel room.
However, the jury failed to reach verdicts on counts involving two other women and acquitted Weinstein of the sexual battery of a massage therapist. The defense had since argued that Weinstein had consensual sex with two of the women he was accused of assaulting and that the other two fabricated their stories.
Last week, Judge Lench declined a request from Gloria Allred, an attorney for some of the women who testified against Weinstein, to allow others to make similar statements about him in court, despite his notoriety as a figure at the center of the #MeToo movement for the past five years.
“I’m not going to make this an open forum on Mr. Weinstein’s conduct,” Lench told them at the time.
It still itsn’t know where Weinstein will serve his sentence, but it is expected that he will serve his New York sentence before his California prison term. The possibility of a retrial or other complications may delay his return there.
Weinstein is eligible for parole in New York in 2039.
