Earlier this week, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said he expects his department,
which already is handling more than two dozen allegations of sexual misconduct by high profile
Hollywood and media figures, to officially open investigations into even more accusations
of assault.
The LAPD currently has 28 open investigations linked to elite Hollywood and media figures.
One of which is the mogul Harvey Weinstein, and a huge list of others such as actor Ed
Westwick, writer Murray Miller, and agent Tyler Grasham. The department also has gathered
37 other sex crime reports that it has sent to other law enforcement agencies as the possible
crimes occurred in other jurisdictions away from the Los Angeles area jurisdiction. All
of the accused have of course denied all and any wrongdoing.
This month LAPD officially established five full-time teams of two seasoned detectives
each to exclusively investigate allegations of sexual misconduct in Hollywood. The teams
even include members of the cold-case unit since those detectives are experts in dealing
with old criminal allegations that lack physical evidence and are affected by the fact that
people forget details of crimes as time goes on. Beck later went on to confirm that his
department is 100% committed to looking into each and every allegation made by those who
feel they were victimized by the Hollywood machine.
The Los Angeles Times Reports:
Wave of Hollywood sex assault claims sends LAPD into uncharted territory
The flood of sexual assault allegations coming out of the Hollywood entertainment industry
has the Los Angeles Police Department negotiating uncharted territory.
Never before has the department received so many sexual assault allegations involving
high-profile figures at one time, including many complex cases that are years old with
multiple alleged victims, officials say.
The department has re-engineered its detective staff to deal with the influx. The LAPD has
established five teams of two detectives to exclusively investigate allegations of sexual
misconduct in Hollywood. The teams include members of the cold-case unit, because those
detectives are experts in dealing with old criminal allegations that lack physical evidence.
Beverly Hills police are investigating 12 Hollywood sexual assault allegations
"They know where to go. They know how to jog people's memories," said LAPD Capt.
Billy Hayes, who oversees the Robbery-Homicide Division and is managing the task force. "We've
[gotten] an unprecedented number of calls."
The LAPD now has 28 open investigations related to Hollywood and media figures, including
mogul Harvey Weinstein, actor Ed Westwick, writer Murray Miller and agent Tyler Grasham.
The department has also taken 37 other sex crimes reports that it has sent to other law
enforcement agencies, believing the alleged crimes occurred in those jurisdictions.
Sexual assault vs. lewd acts
Two main types of crimes have been alleged: criminal sexual assault such as rape, and
the lesser crime of lewd acts such as unwanted touching or masturbation. Lewd act allegations
have proved more challenging because the statute of limitations — the time period during
which a crime can be prosecuted — in California is as little as one year. Other sex crimes
have much longer statutes of limitation. For most cases of rape, it's 10 years.
The LAPD has already established a triage strategy. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck is requiring
that the department perform interviews and take detailed reports from anyone who makes
allegations, however old. Then, detectives work with the Los Angeles County district
attorney's newly established Hollywood sex crimes task force to determine whether the
alleged crime occurred within the statute of limitations. After that, detectives begin
more in-depth investigations.
Hayes estimated that in 95% of the cases, there is no physical evidence. That leaves
detectives focusing heavily on witness accounts, which, given the circumstances of many intimate
claims, are limited. So that leaves detectives looking for corroborating witnesses, including
people whom the alleged victims told of the incidents when they happened.
Some of the alleged crimes occurred at hotels. So police have been going though reservation
logs, employee schedules and video surveillance looking for clues and corroborating evidence,
Hayes said.
Weinstein has been accused of rape and forcible oral copulation by an Italian actress in 2013
as well as lewd acts by a second woman in 2015. The 2013 allegation occurred within
the statute of limitations for rape, but the alleged 2015 incident is believed to be out
of statute.
Detectives interviewed Weinstein's rape accuser for 2½ hours and are now seeking
to verify the actress' claim by interviewing those whom she told about the alleged attack
at the time. The woman, according to sources familiar with the case, told at least three
people contemporaneously about the alleged encounter. The sources spoke on the condition
of anonymity because they are not authorized to reveal details of the case.
Legal experts said even incidents that occurred beyond the statute of limitations have potential
value.
"Under California law, a prosecutor can put on witnesses who can testify to a defendant's
propensity to commit the crime. Here we have many prominent actresses alleging similar
acts. I believe a judge would let them testify if Weinstein is charged with a sexual assault,"
said Dmitry Gorin, a former L.A. County sex crimes prosecutor.
In the case of Weinstein, the LAPD is working closely with police in Beverly Hills, New
York and London, which all have open criminal cases involving the mogul.
"The victims in each investigation could testify in each others' cases depending
on the law in the jurisdiction," Gorin said. "There could be an alleged victim in England
who comes to L.A. to testify."
So far, no criminal charges have been brought against Weinstein.
Besides Weinstein, the LAPD is also investigating other high-profile allegations including:
Actress Kristina Cohen's accusation that "Gossip Girl" actor Westwick raped her
at a West Los Angeles home while she was trying to sleep in a guest bedroom. He has denied
any wrongdoing. An allegation of sexual assault made against
"Girls" writer Miller, who denies wrongdoing. An allegation of unwanted groping made by
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" actor Terry Crews. Both law enforcement sources and legal experts
said building the cases is going to take time. Detectives will likely interview witnesses
and alleged victims numerous times before bringing a case to prosecutors.
County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey announced this month that she has assigned a group of
veteran sex crimes prosecutors to work together to examine the cases and "ensure a uniform
approach to the legal review and possible prosecution of any case that meets both the
legal and factual standards for criminal prosecution."
Some Hollywood allegations have already been closed.
Actor Corey Feldman recently reported to the LAPD that he was sexually abused by two adults
as a child in the industry. But police said the case could not go forward because the
statute of limitations was already up.
But the LAPD praised Feldman for coming forward.
The LAPD knows perfectly well that once this whole can of worms is open and visible for
the whole world to see, a lot of people will be going down because of it. You can't be
in an arena which tries to dictate to the rest of us how we are supposed to think and
act while getting away with crimes like these. Whatever comes of this whole mess, one thing
is for certain, most of us sitting on the right side of the political aisle just can't
seem to stop smiling and snickering every time someone "big" goes down in flames.
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