Model and actress Lauren Young told how Harvey Weinstein masturbated in front of her

02/06/2020 - 10:21

• Clarín.com
• Society

Filipino-American model and actress Lauren Young, the last witness of the US Attorney's Office. In the case of sexual abuse against the film producer Harvey Weinstein, she told the jury this Wednesday how, in February 2013, the businessman locked her in a bathroom, groped her and masturbated in front of her .

Young, who is 30 today, said that after meeting the defendant in a bar at the Montage Beverly Hills Hotel (Los Angeles, California), he invited her to his room, led her to the bathroom and sexually assaulted her .

The actress is the last of the six witnesses, including the two complainants, that the Prosecutor's Office summoned to try to prove that Weinstein is guilty of the five charges of sexual abuse that are charged, two of them of rape, and argue that a predatory behavior pattern .

"He began to masturbate while he grabbed my right chest with his left hand and masturbated with his right hand saying: how will I know if you can act? " Said Young, quoted by several local media. Weinstein would later have added: "This is what all actresses do to break through."

Sketch of the court in which Lauren Young grabs a handkerchief while questioned during the trial against Harvey Weinstein in New York. (Reuters / Jane Rosenberg).

In addition to testifying in New York at the request of the Prosecutor's Office, Young is one of the two main witnesses of another case opened for sexual harassment against Weinstein in the state of Los Angeles.

Before her, actress Annabella Sciorra appeared, who recounted how he who was known as "the god" of the celluloid raped her in the winter of 1993-1994; Production assistant Mimi Haley, who claimed to have been raped twice by him, and Jessica Mann, who also accused the producer of rape .

In addition, Dawn Dunning, who in 2004 was a waitress and aspiring actress, took the stand, and said that Weinstein penetrated her with her fingers without her consent; and Tarale Wulff, who reported in the courtroom that Weinstein masturbated in front of her at the fancy restaurant where Wulff worked in 2005.

Prosecutors' accusation is based on the testimonies of the Jessica Mann and Mimi Haley exactrix.

The other four women sat on the stage to try to convince the twelve jurors that Weinstein acted in the same pattern: offer opportunities in the film industry in exchange for sex and use their power to force their victims sexually.

For its part, Weinstein's defense has tried to discredit witnesses and their testimonies, seeking their inconsistencies and even, as in the case of Mann, accusing them of trying to manipulate the producer to make his way into the world of cinema.

Lauren Marie Young hides her face when she leaves the court after testifying at the trial against Harvey Weinstein (Reuters).

This Friday is expected to continue Young's statement and return to the room Tarale Wulff, at the request of the defense.

Source: EFE

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