Harvey Weinstein sentencing official: 23 years imprisonment for rape and sexual assault
A court sketch of Harvey Weinstein in a wheelchair at sentencing.
Fallen Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison after being found guilty of two cases of sexual assault.
Weinstein faced between five to 29 years after charges were laid for a felony sex crime – which carries a sentence of five-to-25 years imprisonment, and third-degree rape – punishable by a maximum sentence of four years; court decision-makers having opted for the larger sentence.
Prosecutors argued that while Weinstein only faced charges relating to two victims, he had a “lifetime of abuse towards others, sexual and otherwise”, adding that he showed a “lack of remorse” for his victims.
In US law, as is the case in most Western law, a person is guilty of third-degree rape when they engage in nonconsensual sex with another individual. In regards to the first charge, a person is guilty of a criminal sexual act in the first degree if they engage in oral or anal sex with someone who is incapable of consent.
The two charges relate to cases involving a former production assistant, Mimi Haleyi, who accused Weinstein of assaulting her in his apartment in 2006, and actress Jessica Mann, who accused the producer of sexually assaulting her in 2013.
Weinstein’s legal representatives asked the judge for the minimum five-year sentence, arguing that the producer’s age (67) may mean he wouldn’t outlive the higher sentencing. They also tried to push Weinstein’s philanthropic efforts and contributions to film as positive character traits, but with little success.
“In short, he [has] lost everything,” wrote Weinstein’s lawyers. “He cannot walk outside without being heckled; he has lost his means to earn a living. Simply put, his fall from grace has been historic, perhaps unmatched in the age of social media.”
However, prosecutors argued that while Weinstein only faced charges relating to two victims, he delivered a “lifetime of abuse towards others, sexual and otherwise”, adding that he showed a “lack of remorse” for his victims.
Weinstein himself tried to turn his sentencing into a grandstand argument about how the world is changing and how “men are confused about all of this”.
“I am totally confused,” said the now-registered sex offender and rapist. “I think men are confused about all of this… This feeling of thousands of men and women who are losing due process. I’m worried about this country. This is not the right atmosphere in the United States of America.”
Weinstein also added, “You know, the [#MeToo] movement started basically with me, and I think what happened, you know, I was the first example, and now there are thousands of men who are being accused and a regeneration of things that I think none of us understood.”
Harvey Weinstein is also awaiting trial in Los Angeles on several accounts of sexual assault.
Antonino Tati
CREAM MAGAZINE 
One Response to “Harvey Weinstein sentencing official: 23 years imprisonment for rape and sexual assault”
[…] Weinstein had only just begun his 23-year prison sentence last week. His lawyer and other spokespeople have said they were unaware of the diagnosis until […]
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