Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of third-degree rape and a criminal sex act on Monday. After over five days of deliberation, jurors in Manhattan Supreme Court cleared Weinstein, 67, of the most serious charge against him, predatory sex assault. He faced five charges, including predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape, for the alleged sexual assault of Miriam Haleyi inside his SoHo apartment in 2006 and the alleged 2013 rape of Jessica Mann inside a New York hotel room.
The verdict comes more than two years after reports in The New York Times and The New Yorker exposed a slew of sexual-misconduct allegations against Weinstein, launching the global #MeToo movement and inspiring hundreds of women to share their own accounts of harassment and assault. More than 80 women have since come forward to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment and rape.
Jurors heard from six of Weinstein’s accusers at trial, with most of them claiming the Oscar-winner lured them into isolated places to discuss their futures in the entertainment industry before sexually assaulting them.
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