Harvey Weinstein to plead not guilty to new charges

Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer has said the film producer will enter a plea of not guilty after he was charged with sex crimes against a third woman in New York.

The disgraced producer, 66, has already been charged with assaults on two other women in 2013 and 2004.

The Manhattan District Attorney announced Weinstein has now been charged with offences alleged to have taken place in 2006.

A grand jury has charged the mogul with an additional count of a criminal sex act in the first degree for a forcible sexual act, as well as two counts of predatory sexual assault.

His lawyer Benjamin Brafman said in a statement: “Mr Weinstein will enter a plea of not guilty to the new charges.

“Mr Weinstein maintains that all of these allegations are false and he expects to be fully vindicated.

“Furthermore to charge Mr Weinstein as a predator when the interactions were each consensual is simply not justified.”

Predatory sexual assault is one of the most serious crimes in New York’s criminal code, a Class A-II felony which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Cyrus R Vance, Jr, the Manhattan District Attorney, said: “A Manhattan Grand Jury has now indicted Harvey Weinstein on some of the most serious sexual offences that exist under New York’s Penal Law.

“This indictment is the result of the extraordinary courage exhibited by the survivors who have come forward.

“Our investigation continues. If you are a survivor of the predatory abuse with which Mr Weinstein is charged, there is still time to pursue justice.”

Weinstein was first charged in May and at the time his lawyer said he intended to enter a plea of not guilty to the first two charges.

The film producer denies all allegations of non-consensual sex.