Harvey Weinstein Sentenced To 23 Years Over Rape

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault in a landmark #MeToo case.

A jury on February 24 found Weinstein guilty of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann.

.In an emotional statement in court, Haleyi spoke of the trauma she had endured since the attack, saying, “It scarred me deeply, mentally and emotionally, perhaps irreparably, perhaps forever.”

Haleyi further said Weinstein has seemed “completely disconnected from the gravity of the crime he has committed against me.”

Mann also addressed the court: “I want to remind you I told Harvey, ‘no’ … I am forced to carry that experience until I die

During the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Joan Illuzzi asked Judge James Burke to impose 25 years or “near” 25 years in prison for his conviction on a charge of criminal sexual act in the first degree involving Haleyi and to impose a consecutive sentence for the third-degree rape conviction involving Mann.

That charge called for up to four years in prison, but the prosecution made no specific request.

Weinstein’s lawyers on Monday urged Burke to impose the minimum possible sentence of five years, asking him to consider Weinstein’s charitable activities while saying a longer sentence would likely mean Weinstein would die in prison.

Prosecutors in court filings last week said the sentence should reflect not only the crimes of which Weinstein was convicted, but a “lifetime of abuse towards others”. A second criminal case is pending in California.