The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which authorized two charges of indecent assault against Weinstein in 2022, has decided to discontinue the proceedings due to a “lack of a realistic prospect of conviction.”
In a statement, the CPS explained, “We have communicated our decision to all parties. We encourage any potential victims of sexual assault to come forward and report to the police, and we will pursue prosecution where our legal criteria are met.”
Weinstein, who became a central figure in the #MeToo movement in 2017 following numerous public allegations, was investigated by British police for multiple alleged incidents of s*xual assault occurring between the 1980s and 2015.
In June 2022, the CPS had authorized London’s Metropolitan Police to charge Weinstein with two counts of indecent assault related to an alleged incident in London in 1996. At the time of the announcement, the alleged victim was in her 50s.
Weinstein, who denies all allegations of rape and sexual assault, is currently in custody in New York awaiting a retrial in Manhattan.
Following the retrial, he is scheduled to begin serving a 16-year sentence in California for a separate rape conviction in Los Angeles. Weinstein was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 while already serving a 23-year sentence in New York.
Earlier this year, his 2020 Manhattan conviction was overturned when the state’s highest court ruled that the original trial judge had improperly allowed testimony related to allegations not included in the case.
