Harvey Weinstein Indicted In Rape Case

According to CNN, a grand jury indicted Harvey Weinstein on charges of rape in the first and third degrees and first-degree criminal sexual act.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance has filed charges against Harvey Weinstein. As per a media release, bail has been posted at $1 million. As of today, Weinstein will wear an electric monitoring device that allows authorities to keep track of him.

"Today’s charges reflect significant progress in this active, ongoing investigation," Vance said in a statement. "I thank the brave survivors who have come forward, and my Office’s prosecutors who have worked tirelessly on this investigation. I would also like to thank Commissioner James O’Neill and our dedicated partners at the NYPD. We urge additional survivors and others with relevant information to call our Sex Crimes Hotline at 212-335-9373."

Friday morning, at 7:30 a.m., the disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein surrendered himself to New York City authorities, the Associated Press confirms. As of 8:45 a.m., Weinstein had left the station in handcuffs. As per the New York Times, Weinstein has been charged with the rape of one woman and performing a criminal sex act on another.

The second charge is related to the accusations from Lucia Evans (née Stoller), who first recounted her experience with Weinstein to The New Yorker. Evans alleged that during a "casting meeting" in 2004, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. The victim related to the rape charge is as of yet unknown.

Reports emerged late Thursday afternoon that Weinstein would turn himself in. In light of the impending arrest, Evans spoke to the journalist Ronan Farrow about her decision to press charges.

"At a certain point, you have to think about the greater good of humanity, of womankind," Evans said of her decision. Farrow reports that, following the publication of his New Yorker exposé of Weinstein, detectives reached out to Evans to see if she might file an official complaint. Without it, they would likely not have a case.

"I think everyone’s self-preservation mechanism kicks in when they make a big life decision such as this,” Evans explained. “What is it going to mean to you? How is it going to affect your life, your family, your friends?”

Weinstein's actions were first exposed in October of 2017 in a lengthy investigation by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Meghan Twohey. Farrow's report followed shortly after. These investigations indirectly led to the foundation of the Time's Up initiative, an effort to resolve inequity in the workplace across all industries.