Ex-movie producer Harvey Weinstein sentenced to jail for 23 years after sexual assault conviction.
Weinstein was found guilty in a trial in New York last month, finalising a dramatic fall from grace for one of Hollywood’s most powerful figures.
The 67-year-old appeared in court on Wednesday in a wheelchair.
Weinstein sentenced for a criminal sex act in the first degree for forcing oral sex on the former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006. As well as rape in the third degree; this relates to him raping another woman in a New York hotel in 2013.
Weinstein’s lawyers had appealed for leniency, insisting that even the minimum sentence of five years could be a “life sentence” for him.
Prosecutors argued Weinstein should be given the maximum possible sentence given his “lifetime of abuse” towards women and “lack of remorse” for his actions.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr said on the women who testified:
“Their words took down a predator and put him behind bars, and gave hope to survivors of sexual violence all across the world.”
Weinstein addressed the court for the first time on Wednesday, saying he had “deep remorse” but described himself as “totally confused” by what had happened, in comments seen as critical to the #MeToo movement.
Dozens of women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, including rape, against Weinstein since October 2017.
Weinstein, 67, reportedly planned his attacks in advance, carefully selecting vulnerable victims of whom he had power over in the entertainment industry.
The man who produced films such as Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love, partly responsible for a total of 81 Oscars, despite his power in Hollywood, the guilty verdict shows no one is above the law.
The man whose sexual abuse of young female actors sparked the #MeToo movement in Hollywood and elsewhere, which shed light on sexual harassment and sexual assault. Harvey Weinstein will spend his 23 year prison sentence in a New York state prison.
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