The New York City Police Department said Friday it is developing a strong case against Harvey Weinstein for rape and are gathering evidence to issue an arrest warrant.
Officials spoke at a news conference in Lower Manhattan and said they were gathering evidence for the case in light of accusations made against the famous producer.
“We have an actual case here,” Chief Robert K. Boyce told reporters at the conference. “We are happy where the investigation is right now. Mr. Weinstein is out of state, we would need an arrest warrant to arrest him. Right now we are gathering our evidence.”
Boyce added, “In order to go arrest Mr. Weinstein, we would need an arrest warrant, so that requires a court order, so we want to get our evidence first before we go out and do something like that.”
The press conference took place just one day after actress Paz de la Huerta said that the disgraced Hollywood mogul raped her twice. The “Boardwalk Empire” star told Vanity Fair’s Rebecca Keegan that on both occasions their sex “wasn’t consensual,” and that the producer had “stuck himself inside me.”
“We became aware of the victim on October 25, she put forward a credible and detailed narrative,” Chief Boyce said. “We then sought to garner corroboration. This happened seven years ago, and we found corroboration along the way.” He added that subpoenas have been issued.
Weinstein said he “unequivocally denied” any accusations non-consensual sex with de la Huerta, the same response he has used for more than 60 accounts of sexual harassment and assault from women who have spoken out since mid-October.
The NYPD said on Thursday it was investigating de la Huetrta’s accusations. “A senior sex crimes prosecutor is assigned to this investigation, and the Office has been working with our partners in the NYPD since the new allegations came to light,” a statement provided to CBS News from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office read. “As this is an active investigation, we will not be commenting further.”
Weinstein is currently facing criminal investigations by police in London, New York, Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. His attorneys have denied claims that he engaged in nonconsensual sex and he has not been charged with any crimes.
Weinstein’s spokesperson has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Watch the video of the press conference above.