Harvey Weinstein: UK police investigating allegations from seven women
The Met confirms it is looking into allegations of sexual assault from seven victims between the early 1980s and 2015.
Tuesday 31 October 2017 13:57, UK
Police in the UK are investigating allegations of sexual assault made by seven women against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The Metropolitan Police said on 12 October it was investigating an allegation about the Oscar-winning producer and studio boss.
That allegation, said to have stemmed from an incident in the 1980s, had been reported to officers in Merseyside but was being dealt with by Scotland Yard's child abuse and sexual offences command.
The Met has now said it is looking into allegations from six other women, all made after 12 October.
::
Mr Weinstein has strenuously denied any allegations of non-consensual sex.
The UK police investigation is known as Operation Kaguyak.
Sky News understands the allegations are that:
:: Weinstein sexually assaulted a woman (Victim 2) in Westminster in 2010 and 2011, and in Camden in 2015.
:: He sexually assaulted a woman (Victim 3) in Westminster in 1992.
:: The movie boss sexually assaulted a woman (Victim 4) outside the jurisdiction of the UK in the early 1980s. The Met said the allegation will be passed to the local police force in due course.
:: The producer sexually assaulted a woman (Victim 5) in Westminster in the mid-1990s.
:: He also sexually assaulted a woman (Victim 6) outside the jurisdiction of the UK in 2012, and in Westminster in 2013 and 2014. The 2012 allegation will be passed to the relevant police force in due course, the Met said.
:: And that Weinstein sexually assaulted a woman (Victim 7) in Westminster in 1994.
Police said they are yet to make any arrests in connection with the allegations.
Weinstein is at the centre of a growing international scandal about sexual harassment, involving dozens of women, many of them actresses who encountered him in a professional capacity.
The Met has refused to comment on the allegations directly or, as is standard procedure until anyone is charged with a criminal offence, name Weinstein, but it has confirmed that the series of allegations has been received.
In the US, police in New York and Los Angeles have said they are investigating allegations of sexual assault against the movie boss, who co-ran the Miramax studio between 1979 and 2005, during which time it backed a string of Academy Award-winning hit films.
::
After 2005, he founded The Weinstein Company with his brother Bob, which also produced a series of critically well-received films.
In the UK, police are required to investigate allegations of sexual assault if they receive them.
Among those who have made allegations of serious sexual assault against the producer through the media are , who told The New Yorker that Weinstein forced his way in to her apartment, and , who was among the first to make allegations.
The Weinstein scandal has helped change the atmosphere around allegations of harassment and assault, which has spilled over into other spheres, such as politics and business.