Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 16 years in prison for rape, sexual assault

The sentence on Thursday (Friday AEDT) comes on top of the more than 20 years the 70-year-old Weinstein has left to serve for a similar 2020 conviction in New York, furthering the fall of the onetime movie magnate who became a #MeToo magnet.

Weinstein directly appealed to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench, saying: “I maintain that I’m innocent. I never raped or sexually assaulted Jane Doe 1.” The woman who Weinstein was convicted of raping sobbed in the courtroom as he spoke.

Moments earlier she had told the judge about the pain she felt after being attacked by Weinstein. “Before that night I was a very happy and confident woman. I valued myself and the relationship I had with God,” the woman, who was identified in court only as Jane Doe 1, said.

“I was excited about my future. Everything changed after the defendant brutally assaulted me. There is no prison sentence long enough to undo the damage.”

Lench handed down the sentence on Thursday after rejecting a motion by Weinstein’s lawyers for a new trial.

Read Related Also: Busy Philipps' Hollywood Life & A Look At Her Unconventional Relationship With Her Ex

Jurors in December convicted Weinstein of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against the woman who at the trial’s opening in October gave a dramatic and emotional account of him arriving uninvited at her hotel room, talking his way in and assaulting her during a film festival.

The jury spared Weinstein an even longer sentence when they acquitted him of the sexual battery of a massage therapist and failed to reach verdicts on counts involving two other women.

The defence contended during the trial that Weinstein had consensual sex with two of the women he was charged with assaulting and that two others – including the one who led to his conviction – were making up the incidents entirely.

This is a breaking story .. more to come.