Police in New York said on Friday they have enough evidence to arrest disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein after a “credible rape allegation” was made against him.
Boardwalk Empire actor Paz de la Huerta claimed the movie mogul raped her twice at her apartment in New York in 2010.
Speaking at a news conference, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said the force had been investigating Ms De La Huerta’s claims, which were published in Vanity Fair magazine on Thursday.
"She put forth a credible and detailed narrative to us. We then sought to garner corroboration... and we found it, corroboration," Chief Boyce said.
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The NYPD said they became aware of the claim on October 25 and would have arrested Mr Weinstein, who is currently in Arizona, already had he been in New York.
"If this person was still in New York and it was recent, we would go right away and make the arrest, no doubt. But we're talking about a seven-year-old case and we have to move forward in gathering evidence first.
"We have an actual case here," he added. "Mr Weinstein is out of state. We would need an arrest warrant to arrest him. So right now we're gathering our evidence. We continue to do so. Everyday."
More than 60 women have accused the 65-year-old producer of sexual harassment and assault, with police investigations being conducted in New York, London and Los Angeles.
Mr Weinstein’s has denied all allegations of rape made against him.
In a statement his representative said: "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr Weinstein."
Ms De La Huerta told Vanity Fair Magazine that she first met Mr Weinstein when she was 14 and the attacks took place when she was 26.
The first happened after the movie mogul gave her a lift home from a bar and the second when he turned up at her apartment.
The 33-year-old told the magazine: "He’s like a pig, he raped me. I laid there feeling sick. He looked at me and said 'I’ll put you in a play'.
“He left and I never heard from him again, he knew he had done a bad thing."
