Weinstein charged with rape and sex crimes by NY police

New York­ - The former mogul is expected to appear before a Manhattan court.

Disgraced Hollywood powerbroker Harvey Weinstein was arrested and charged on Friday with rape and sex crimes on two women, nearly eight months after his career imploded in a blaze of assault accusations that triggered the global #MeToo movement.
The former mogul - once the toast of Hollywood and whose films won scores of Oscars - is expected to appear before a Manhattan court later on Friday morning, where he is expected to plead not guilty.
The New York police department announced in a brief statement he was "arrested, processed and charged with rape, criminal sex act, sex abuse and sexual misconduct for incidents involving two separate women." They mark the first criminal charges against the twice-married, shamed former titan faces criminal charges, despite being hit by a slew of civil lawsuits and reportedly being under federal investigation.
"The NYPD thanks these brave survivors for their courage to come forward and seek justice," the New York police department said in a statement. The 66-year-old former studio boss walked into the downtown Manhattan police station shortly before 7:30am wearing a white shirt, pale blue sweater and dark blazer before a mob of television cameras and photographers. He stepped out of a black SUV, clutching several books - what appeared to be the Rodgers and Hammerstein biography Something Wonderful, a book on director Elia Kazan and a black Moleskine-type notebook - and looking glum as he walked up the steps into the station.
Weinstein was understood to have had his mugshots and fingerprints taken at the station, close to his former Miramax office in Tribeca and the Manhattan townhouse he once shared with his wife.