Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sexual assault charges

The former movie mogul has been charged over alleged assaults on three women

Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting a woman in 2006 - the third criminal sex assault case to have been brought against him.

The producer of films such as Shakespeare in Love and The English Patient, appeared in court in New York where he denied sexually assaulting a woman in 2006.

Mr Weinstein has been free on $1m bail following his May arrest on charges he sexually assaulted two other women, one in 2004 and one in 2013.

The 66-year-old has pleaded not guilty to those charges too, and has repeatedly denied having any non-consensual sexual encounters amid accusations from more than 70 women, most of them young actresses and women employed in other areas of the movie business.

Allegations against Mr Weinstein first emerged in October of 2017 in reports in the New York Times and the New Yorker. The claims against a man who had for decades been a Hollywood power-broker, led to a flood of further accusations, not only against Mr Weinstein, but other powerful figures in industries ranging from classical music to high-end catering.

They helped trigger the #MeToo movement, in which women, and men, shared stories of sexual assault and abuse they had suffered on social media. Many said they were speaking out for the first time, or that their claims had previously been ignored.

Mr Weinstein’s lawyer, Ben Brafman, has previously sought to undermine the credibility of the women who have accused his client and questioned why incidents said to have taken places many years ago, were now coming to light.

“We fight these battles one day at a time, and today we won this round,” Mr Brafman said outside the New York Supreme Court on Monday, according to the Associated Press. He said he expected more charges to follow.

Mr Weinstein pleaded not guilty after he was brought into the courtroom while handcuffed from behind, then uncuffed for the proceeding.

An updated indictment unveiled last week alleges the movie mogul, performed a forcible sex act on a woman in 2006. The new charges include two counts of predatory sexual assault, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison upon conviction.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R Vance Jr said Mr Weinstein was charged with “some of the most serious sexual offences” that exist under state law.

He said in a statement last week: “This indictment is the result of the extraordinary courage exhibited by the survivors who have come forward.”