Police departments on both coasts are actively investigating sexual assault charges against film producer Harvey Weinstein and director James Toback, both of whom have a long history of harassment and assault allegations, but who currently have very specific criminal charges against them. Lest we forget, sexual assault is a crime, regardless of how Hollywood brushes it under the rug.
In New York City, the NYPD has two open cases against Weinstein. As reported by CNN, one of the accusers is former actress Lucia Evans, who recently told her story of assault to The New Yorker. What’s interesting right now about the New York investigation is that it also involves a second unnamed alleged victim who has come forward through the NYPD’s rape hotline with sexual assault allegations against Weinstein.
In addition, the NYPD received other calls into the rape hotline related to Weinstein and investigators are looking into those claims, too.
Weinstein is also being investigated by police in Beverly Hills, though their investigative resources are primarily focused on Toback, about whom the Los Angeles Times first broke the extent of the allegations. Thirty-eight women came forward for that initial story. That number has since ballooned to 300 women accusing Toback of a range of inappropriate sexual behavior.
Most of Toback’s alleged crimes occurred in New York City, so while the CNN story doesn’t mention a separate investigation going on for him in New York, there will likely be one if there isn’t one already. I’ve reached out to the NYPD regarding Toback, and will update with any additional information.
With all of the allegations and the wide variety of incidents and behaviors going around, not to mention the way that these allegations are being talked about in terms of safer workplaces and general sexism, it’s easy to lose sight of something very simple: sexual assault is a crime, and if these men are guilty of sexual assault, they’re not just heinous misogynists, they are criminals.
Let’s not forget that moving forward. Let’s not forget that, whether decades have gone by after a particular incident or not, whether a state’s individual statute of limitations has expired or not, if these men have committed these acts, they have committed crimes, and they deserve to be stopped and punished to the fullest extent of the law, as well as guarded against accordingly by the people around them so that they cannot continue endangering others.
(image: lev radin/Shutterstock; Nick Step/Flickr; Teresa Jusino)
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