Several high profile men in Hollywood, including Harvey Weinstein and Steven Seagal, could face sex abuse charges brought against them by a special task force of Los Angeles County prosecutors.
Besides Weinstein and Seagal, the task force is also looking at potential charges for Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The special task force, created under Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, focuses specifically on sexual crimes in the entertainment industry. Some of the cases under review were handed over to the task force nearly six months ago.
The cases are coming from a wide range of law enforcement jurisdictions in Los Angeles including the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Beverly Hills police.
The Los Angeles special crimes task force focusing on sex crimes in the entertainment industry is weighing potential charges against Harvey Weinstein in five separate cases
Steven Seagal (left) and Ed Westwick (right) have at least five cases between them under review for potential charges to be brought against them by the task force in Los Angeles
Weinstein is the most prominent of the accused with currently over 20 pending cases against him in London, New York, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.
Detectives believe Italian actress Asia Argento’s case in particular has potential for prosecution.
She reportedly told several people including a priest that Weinstein raped her at a Beverly Hills hotel with LAPD detectives able to confirm that she was there, with bills from the time frame in which Argento claims she was attacked.
Weinstein denies being at the hotel and detectives have been unable to determine if he was definitively there on the day of the alleged attack.
There at least five cases against Weinstein that are under review with Lacey’s office.
Westwick has two cases under review, and prosecutors have asked the LAPD to further investigate the allegations against him.
Meanwhile Seagal has a total of at least three cases against him, with the LAPD behind the investigations. The prosecution task force was forwarded one of those cases in January.
Investigators believe out of the several cases against Weinstein, Italian actress Asia Argento’s (pictured) case looks to be the most promising for a successful prosecution
The task force is also reviewing cases against agent Tyler Grasham and children’s author Dallas Clayton.
Grasham was fired by Beverly Hills-based Agency for Performing Arts over allegations of abuse, with one of the cases against him investigated by the LAPD and handed over to prosecutors.
Two cases against Clayton have been under review since November. Both he and Grasham have denied any allegations against them.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors were reviewing allegations against actor Kevin Spacey but the date of the alleged incident was outside the statute of limitations.