Story at a glance
- Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being convicted of sex crimes in New York.
- While dozens of women have accused the former Hollywood producer of sexual assault and rape, only two cases were considered in court.
- Weinstein still faces charges in Los Angeles involving two other victims.
Almost three years after a New York Times investigation reported on sexual harassment accusations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, he has been sentenced to 23 years in prison. The former movie mogul was convicted on two of five charges against him in New York: a criminal sexual assault and third degree rape.
The sentence was less than the maximum of 29 years the judge could have given Weinstein, but the 67-year-old will be 90 when it’s over, unless he is granted early release. His lawyers had asked for leniency ahead of the sentencing due to preexisting health issues that put him in the hospital during the trial.
Jessica Mann, 34, and Miriam Haleyi, 42, were in their mid-to-late 20s when Weinstein sexually assaulted them. Almost a decade later, they were granted legal justice for his crimes.
“The day my uncontrollable screams were heard in the courtroom was the day my full voice went back into my power. Those were the screams that wanted to come out when Harvey Weinstein raped me,” Mann told the judge, according to the Daily Beast. “I have found my voice and hope for a future where monsters no longer hide in our closet.”
Haleyi, a former production assistant for “Project Runway,” said in court, “I showed up, not as a perfect victim, but as a human being.”
Four other women testified in court as witnesses: Annabella Sciorra, Dawn Dunning, Tarale Wulff and Lauren Young. Their cases were not tried, but their statements helped establish a pattern of behavior against Weinstein. Times Up, a foundation formed in the wake of the #MeToo movement, put out a statement on behalf of 24 other women who have publicly accused Weinstein of sexual assault and rape.
BREAKING: Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for his February conviction of criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree.
The following is a statement from 24 #silencebreakers in response: pic.twitter.com/6LhmIhDaMz
— TIME’S UP (@TIMESUPNOW) March 11, 2020
The day before the trial, Wulff posted on blogging site Medium, since only Mann and Haleyi were permitted to give victim impact statements at the sentencing.
“My hope is that Judge Burke will hold Weinstein accountable by imposing a prison sentence that reflects what he has done to us and knowing that whatever sentence he renders, it will never undo what has happened. Those events will continue to haunt me and the other survivors for the rest of our lives,” she wrote.
Weinstein still faces charges in Los Angeles for raping one woman and sexually assaulting another over a two-day period in 2013. He could face up to 28 years in state prison for the California charges, which he would serve after the sentence in New York. Weinstein, who is currently in custody in New York, will be released under the custody of authorities in Los Angeles for the trial.
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