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Harvey Weinstein charged in sexual assault cases as NYPD thanks ‘brave survivors’ for seeking justice

The charges stem from accusations by two women

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May 24, 2018 at 7:34 p.m. EDT

Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Abby Ohlheiser and Elahe Izadi.

Harvey Weinstein was arrested and charged with rape and other abuse charges Friday. He was charged with rape, criminal sex act, sexual abuse and sexual misconduct for cases involving two women, according to the New York Police Department.

“The NYPD thanks these brave survivors for their courage to come forward and seek justice,” the department said in a statement Friday morning.

Weinstein made no comment as he walked into the 1st Precinct police station in Manhattan at about 7:30 a.m, to surrender to authorities.

His arrest came months after Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s office reportedly launched an investigation into allegations of sexual assault. Police officials said the arrest and charges stemmed from a joint investigation between the NYPD and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office declined to comment.

Law enforcement officials did not immediately identify the two women who Weinstein is charged with attacking. After news of Weinstein’s impending arrest broke on Thursday afternoon, reports circulated that the charges would related to Lucia Evans, a former actress who said Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004, and Paz de la Huerta, an actress who told Vanity Fair that Weinstein raped her twice in 2010.

The interview with Vanity Fair was published in Novemeber. That month, New York police officials said Huerta’s accusations were “credible.”

On Thursday, Evans told the New Yorker that she was pressing charges against Weinstein, saying:

Evans was one of several women who told her story to the New Yorker last fall.

“I said, over and over, ‘I don’t want to do this, stop, don’t,’ ” Evans told the New Yorker. “I tried to get away, but maybe I didn’t try hard enough. I didn’t want to kick him or fight him.”

“He overpowered me,” she said. “I just sort of gave up. That’s the most horrible part of it, and that’s why he’s been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like it’s their fault.”

In the months since the New York Times and New Yorker first published their stories, scores more have come forward to claim Weinstein used his status to sexually assault and harass them.

Authorities in several cities have also launched criminal investigations into Weinstein, including in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and London.

Federal prosecutors have also started an investigation into the sexual-abuse allegations, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Weinstein attorney Benjamin Brafman said in a court filing that Weinstein was the “principal target” of a federal probe. He also wrote that Weinstein “did not knowingly violate the law” and the allegations that Weinstein forced himself on women are “entirely without merit,” the Associated Press reported.

Brafman did not immediately return The Washington Post’s request for comment.

This article has been updated.