The Crown Prosecution Service said it had authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge ex-film producer Harvey Weinstein with two counts of indecent assault against a woman in London in August 1996.
Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division said: “The CPS has authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Harvey Weinstein with two counts of indecent assault against a woman in August 1996.
Harvey Weinstein
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“Charges have been authorised against Harvey Weinstein, 70, following a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation."
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that it is alleged the two offences took place between July 31 and August 31 1996 and that the alleged victim is a woman who is now aged in her 50s.
Mass allegations of sexual abuse by Weinstein in Hollywood sparked the MeToo movement.
Weinstein has maintained his innocence throughout the allegations. The disgraced former movie mogul argued that the movement prejudiced a later rape case he was found guilty of in New York.
But a court in New York threw out his appeal.
Weinstein is currently imprisoned in California and is awaiting trial on charges he assaulted five women in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills from 2004 to 2013.
He was previously jailed for 23 years in New York for sexually assaulting a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and raping an aspiring actress in 2013.
It is not yet clear what the route to Weinstein being extradited and facing a UK court would be.