Disgraced movie executive Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to two new charges of predatory sexual assault Monday under a new grand jury indictment that will allow an actor he allegedly assaulted in the early ’90s to testify about what prosecutors said is a pattern of sexually criminal behavior.
Annabella Sciorra, best known for her role in The Sopranos, will testify that Weinstein raped her inside her Manhattan apartment in 1993, Manhattan prosecutors said.
In addition to the new charges, Weinstein has already been charged with two counts of predatory sexual assault, one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree, one count of first-degree rape, and one count of third-degree rape.
Weinstein pleaded not guilty to all charges, arguing that all of the sexual acts were consensual.
Weinstein's trial had been scheduled to begin on Sept. 9, but in order to allow his lawyers to prepare a defense against these new charges, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge James Burke moved the start date to Jan. 6, 2020.
Per New York's penal code, in order to prove predatory sexual assault, prosecutors must present evidence that Weinstein committed felony sexual assault against at least two individuals.
Sciorra first spoke about the alleged rape in October 2017, shortly after the publication of the explosive New Yorker story in which numerous women accused Weinstein of sexual assault over a period of decades.
In an interview with reporter Ronan Farrow published two weeks later, Sciorra described her alleged assault in graphic terms. She said that Weinstein raped her and performed oral sex upon her without her consent after driving her home from an industry dinner in 1993. Sciorra also alleged that the movie executive made aggressive sexual advances toward her in 1995 and 1997.