Film Producer Harvey Weinstein Sent To 23 Years In Prison

American film producer Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison over rape and criminal sex act.

This is coming after an emotional trial that was a landmark moment in the ‘MeToo era’, a movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Recall that Weinstein was convicted in 2013 of rape in the third degree for assaulting aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a hotel in New York City.

He was also convicted in 2016 of criminal sex act after forcing oral sex on former production assistant Mimi Haley. 

Weinstein who arrived in a wheelchair on Wednesday to the Manhattan courthouse faced a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 25 years in prison on the criminal sex act count.

The chief judge who said Weinstein must serve five years of post-release supervision and register as a sex offender said he will serve 20 years on the first count and three years on the second count.

After the final verdict, Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi thanked the women that testified against Weinstein:

“Without these women and others who were willing to come forward this matter would never have been able to be taken, it never would have been successful, and the defendant would never have been able to stop hurting or destroying other people’s lives.”  

He further said Weinstein got drunk on power

“He could take what he wanted knowing there was very little anyone could do about it,” Illuzzi said. 

Mann and Haley both also addressed the court, describing the impact of the assaults on their lives.

“I believe that when he attacked me that evening with physical force with no regard for anything I said, what he did… stripped me of my dignity as a woman.” Haley said,