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Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in a New York sex crime case. It's been nearly a decade since Weinstein's name became forever tied to the #MeToo movement, when dozens of women accused him of sexual harassment and assault. NPR's Chloee Weiner reports.
CHLOEE WEINER, BYLINE: Outside the court Wednesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg praised former production assistant Miriam Haley and the several other accusers who were present at the sentencing.
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ALVIN BRAGG: I'm moved, as we should all be, by their courage and their steadfastness through what has obviously been a challenging and long process.
WEINER: The long and convoluted legal process began in 2020 when Weinstein was first convicted of sex crimes in New York, including for assaulting Haley at his Manhattan apartment in 2006. First, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison, but his conviction was later overturned. That's because multiple accusers had been allowed to testify even though their allegations weren't part of the charges against the former producer.
Then last year, the Manhattan DA's office tried Weinstein for some of those original charges again. He was found guilty of assaulting Haley, and his 15-year sentence is for criminal sex act in the first degree. And that's just New York. Weinstein was convicted of rape in California in 2022. He was sentenced to 16 years, but a court ruled earlier this year that he will need to be re-sentenced. Now 74 years old, the former producer has spent the past six years between prison and the hospital. Weinstein's lawyers say he has significant health issues. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges,
Chloee Weiner, NPR News, New York. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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