Harvey Weinstein to surrender on sexual assault charges

Film producer Harvey Weinstein was expected to surrender to authorities in New York on Friday, months after he was toppled from Hollywood's most powerful ranks by scores of women accusing him of sexual assault, a person familiar with the case said.

Weinstein's spokesman Juda Engelmayer and Weinstein's lawyer Benjamin Brafman both declined to comment. The imminent criminal charging of Weinstein, which was first reported by the New York Daily News, follows a months-long investigation, including by the Manhattan district attorney's office.

A person familiar with the case confirmed the report to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The New York Times and other news outlets also reported Weinstein was expected to surrender.

More than 70 women have accused the co-founder of the Miramax studio and The Weinstein Co of sexual misconduct spanning decades, including rape. The allegations, first reported by the New York Times and the New Yorker last year, gave rise to the #MeToo movement in which hundreds of women have publicly accused powerful men in business, government and entertainment.

Weinstein has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone.

Weinstein will be charged over an allegation by at least one accuser, Lucia Evans, a former aspiring actress who told the New Yorker that Weinstein forced her to give him oral sex in 2004, the Times and Daily News reported. The exact nature of the charges being brought by Manhattan prosecutors was unclear on Thursday afternoon.

The New York Police Department and the district attorney's office declined to comment on the case.