Harvey Weinstein has indecent assault charges dropped by UK prosecutors

• Harvey Weinstein will not face indecent assault charges in the UK after prosecutors announced their decision to drop the case.
• The Crown Prosecution Service authorised two indecent assault charges in 2022 but dropped the cases after “there was no longer any realistic prospect of a conviction”.
• Weinstein became a central figure in the #MeToo movement after numerous women publicly accused him of sexual misconduct in 2017.

Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein will not be prosecuted on indecent assault charges in Britain, prosecutors announced on Thursday.

The Crown Prosecution Service, which authorised two indecent assault charges against Weinstein in 2022, said it had decided to discontinue the proceedings because there was “no longer any realistic prospect of a conviction”.

“We have explained this decision to all parties involved,” Child Protective Services said in a statement. “We always encourage potential victims of sexual assault to come forward and report cases to police, and we will prosecute wherever legal standards are met.”

Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction overturned, new sexual assault trial begins

Weinstein became the #MeToo movement's most visible villain in 2017 when women began publicly accusing him of conduct. After the revelations, British police announced they were investigating multiple allegations of sexual assault that allegedly took place between the 1980s and 2015.

In June 2022, the Crown Prosecution Service announced it had given the Metropolitan Police permission to bring two charges of indecent assault against Weinstein in relation to an incident that allegedly took place in London in 1996. At the time of the announcement, the victim was in her 50s.

Unlike many other countries, the UK has no statute of limitations for rape or sexual assault.

Weinstein, who denies the rape and sexual assault allegations, remains in custody in New York while he awaits a retrial in Manhattan, prosecutors said in August.

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After a retrial, Weinstein will be convicted of a separate rape charge in Los Angeles and begin serving a 16-year sentence in California, authorities said. Weinstein faces a 2022 Los Angeles conviction and is already serving a 23-year sentence in New York.

His 2020 conviction in Manhattan was overturned earlier this year after the state Supreme Court ruled that the judge on the original trial improperly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations unrelated to the case.

Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax Entertainment and the film studio The Weinstein Company, was once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood, producing films such as “Pulp Fiction” and “The Crying Game.”