Law enforcement is monitoring the movements and travel of disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein to ensure he does not flee the country in the event he is formally charged with a crime, according to a report.
The New York Post‘s Page Six reported Saturday that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has asked Homeland Security to monitor Weinstein’s whereabouts as it builds a potential rape case against the fallen mogul.
According to the report, Weinstein would be prevented from leaving the country if he attempted to board an international flight. However, he could still travel freely within the United States.
One law enforcement source told the paper that authorities “don’t want another Roman Polanski on our hands.” The Oscar-winning director pled guilty to statutory rape in 1977 and later fled the country before sentencing. He has lived as a fugitive in Europe ever since.
Weinstein has been accused of sexually harassing or assaulting more than 50 women over the course of his decades-long career as one of Hollywood’s most powerful figures. He has also been accused of raping at least ten different women.
But it was his latest accuser, Boardwalk Empire star Paz de la Huerta, who may trigger law enforcement to arrest and charge Weinstein with rape.
De la Huerta went to the New York Police Department in late October to accuse Weinstein of raping her at her New York City apartment on two occasions over two subsequent months in 2010. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office began building a case against Weinstein based on the actress’s “credible and detailed narrative,” and because the alleged rapes occurred in 2010, four years after New York state enacted a lifetime statute of limitations on first-degree rape.
Weinstein, through a spokesperson, has repeatedly denied any allegations of nonconsensual sex.
According to Page Six, police must wait for New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance to issue an arrest warrant because Weinstein is currently in Arizona, where he was seeking treatment at a rehabilitation facility.
“If this person was still in New York and it was recent, we would go right away and make the arrest. No doubt,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told reporters Friday. “But we’re talking about a seven-year-old case and we have to move forward gathering evidence first.”
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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