London: British police are reportedly investigating 11 allegations of sexual assault against disgraced American movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who is already facing similar charges in the US.
The Metropolitan Police said it has received allegations of sexual assault from 11 victims in connection to “Operation Kaguyak”, the CNN reported.
Although the police statement did not identify the accused, in accordance with police policy meant to protect suspects who have not been charged, it has been widely reported that Operation Kaguyak is the name of the British investigation into Weinstein.
The Metropolitan Police have not confirmed this.
The latest allegation, which was received in August, relates to the sexual assault of a woman (identified only as “Victim 11”) in an unidentified location in the early 1990s, according to the statement.
Many of the 11 allegations received date back to the 1990s, though others are from 2014 and 2015.
In August, CNN reported that Weinstein was facing new allegations of sex trafficking and rape in the US, after a German actress filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles alleging that Weinstein raped her during the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.
She is suing Weinstein for violation of human trafficking laws, assault, battery and false imprisonment. It is the second sex trafficking case filed against the disgraced Hollywood producer.
Weinstein, who also is facing criminal charges in New York, has denied all allegations of “non-consensual sexual activity”, the CNN reported.
The former media mogul has pleaded not guilty to six felony sex crimes in the US — two counts of predatory sexual assault, two counts of rape, one first-degree criminal sex act charge and one criminal sex act.
The charges against Weinstein came nine months after The New Yorker and The New York Times published accounts from several women accusing him of various forms of sexual misconduct.
Since then, more than 40 women, including actresses Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. Weinstein was fired from the Weinstein Company, which has since filed for bankruptcy and been sold off.
The women’s accounts — and the public’s willingness to believe them — emboldened others around the world to stand up to powerful, abusive men in what has come to be known as the #MeToo movement.
IANS