Hollywood producer questioned by police after groping accusation
NEW YORK » The film producer Harvey Weinstein was questioned by the police on Saturday after a 22-year-old woman accused him of touching her inappropriately during a meeting in Manhattan, according to two law enforcement officials.
Weinstein has not been charged with any wrongdoing and, after being located by detectives, voluntarily accompanied the police to be questioned about the matter.
Ken Sunshine, a representative for Weinstein, said: "We are cooperating fully with the authorities and are confident that we will be fully vindicated. We will have no further comment."The woman said that during their meeting, Weinstein asked her if her breasts were real and then groped her, an official said.
The woman, whose name was not released by the police, met Weinstein for the first time on Thursday at a social event at Radio City Music Hall, where he is producing a show called "New York Spring Spectacular," the officials said.
"They did not know each other," said one of the law enforcement officials, who agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. "She didn’t know him and he didn’t know her; there is no indication she knew who he was."
The two exchanged emails, and on Friday the woman went to meet Weinstein at his offices at the Tribeca Film Center in Lower Manhattan, the official said.
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It appears the two met in private, according to the official, and it was during that meeting that she claims he touched her inappropriately.
After the meeting, the official said, the woman immediately went to the police.
She was interviewed by detectives from the Police Department’s Special Victims Squad.
On Saturday, detectives located Weinstein and he voluntarily accompanied them to the First Precinct police station around 5 p.m. to be interviewed, the official said.
After a period, Weinstein asked to consult with a lawyer, and he was allowed to leave.
"He talked for a while and at one point he stopped talking and decided to retain a lawyer," the official said.
The matter is now in the hands of investigators with the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., officials said.
The district attorney’s office declined to comment.
© 2015 The New York Times Company