Just before receiving an additional 16 years in jail for rape, former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein pleaded for mercy in a Los Angeles court.
In February 2013, while the city was hosting a film festival, he was found guilty of assaulting an actress in a hotel room.
The disgraced Hollywood celebrity pleaded with the judge not to give him a life sentence. I’m not worthy of it,
As far back as the late 1970s, more than 80 people have accused Weinstein of wrongdoing and rape.
The 70-year-old is already incarcerated for 23 years after being found guilty of another crime in New York.
Prior to being sentenced on Thursday, Weinstein insisted he was not guilty and had been the victim of a “set-up”.
A Los Angeles jury found him guilty of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault involving an actress on December 19.
Before to the punishment being delivered in court, the victim, who will only be referred to as Jane Doe 1, gave a statement.
She described the trauma she had gone through ever since the attack for “many years.”
Before that evening, she recalled, “I was a really content and self-assured woman.”
“Once the defendant viciously attacked me, everything changed. There isn’t a prison term long enough to repair the harm.”
As everything was going on, Weinstein informed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench that he had never met the victim.
He asserted, “I never committed a sexual assault or raped Jane Doe 1.”
He complained to the court that the case had “so many things wrong” and “so many loopholes.”
Weinstein described his accuser as “an actor who can turn on her tears.”
His lawyers asked the judge to take into account Weinstein’s declining health, his children, and his “generous” gifts to charity. They had requested a three-year sentence for Weinstein.
As the punishment was announced in court, after the judge had denied the defense team’s request for a new trial, Weinstein spent the majority of the time in silence.
In the same Los Angeles courtroom, he was cleared of sexual abuse charges against a different victim.
Three further sexual assault counts, including one involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, went to a jury that was unable to reach a judgment. The judge declared there to be a mistrial.
He is anticipated to challenge the verdict in court.
In the Los Angeles case, the former film tycoon could have spent up to 18 years behind bars.
Inability of the jury to reach a verdict on whether Weinstein premeditated the rape or if the woman was “especially vulnerable” spared him from a sentence of up to 24 years.
The development of the Weinstein scandal
Weinstein received a 23-year jail term in 2020 for sexually assaulting and raping a production assistant in 2006 and a would-be actress in 2013. He filed a protest.
The conviction was viewed as a turning point in the #MeToo movement, which had brought attention to the pervasive sexual misconduct and harassment in the movie and television industries.
