Harvey Weinstein Gets A 16-year Sentence For Rape & Abuse

After a jury found Harvey Weinstein guilty of raping and sexually assaulting an Italian actor and model in 2013, the judge in Los Angeles sentenced him to 16 years in prison on Thursday.

The sentence adds to the more than 20 years of prison term that the 70-year-old Weinstein still needs to serve for a similar conviction in New York from 2020, hastening the demise of the former movie mogul who attracted #MeToo attention.

Judge Lisa B. Lench of the Los Angeles Superior Court received a direct appeal from Weinstein, who stated: “I maintain that I’m innocent. I never raped or sexually assaulted Jane Doe 1.”

As Weinstein spoke, the victim of the rape for which he was found guilty sobbed in the courtroom. She had earlier described to the judge the suffering she was experiencing as a result of Weinstein’s assault.

“Before that night I was a very happy and confident woman. I valued myself and the relationship I had with God. 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,” Jane Doe 1 was the sole name given to the woman in court, who spoke.

Lench delivered the verdict on Thursday after denying Weinstein’s legal team’s request for a fresh trial.

The woman who testified at the trial’s opening in October in a dramatic and emotional account of Weinstein showing up uninvited at her hotel room, talking his way in, and assaulting her during a film festival was the victim of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault, which the jury found Weinstein guilty of in December.

The jury saved Weinstein an even worse punishment by finding him not guilty of sexually assaulting a massage therapist and by coming to no conclusion on the charges against the other two women.

The defense contended during the trial that Weinstein had consensual sex with two of the women he was charged with assaulting and that two others — including the one who led to his conviction — were making up the incidents entirely.

Last week, Lench rejected a request from Gloria Allred, an attorney for some of the women who testified at trial, to allow others to make similar statements in court about the man who has for five years been a magnet for the #MeToo movement.

“I’m not going to make this an open forum on Mr. Weinstein’s conduct,” Lench said at the time.