Harvey Weinstein to Face Criminal Charges in Manhattan

Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is expected to surrender to authorities Friday morning to face criminal charges following a months-long investigation into allegations that he sexually assaulted women.

Officials from Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's office say the charges relate to a former actress, Lucia Evans, who said Weinstein assaulted her in his New York office in 2004.

The two officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the investigation.

A grand jury has been hearing evidence in the case for weeks. Criminal charges against the film producer would be the first since scores of women began coming forward to accuse him of harassment or assault in articles in The New Yorker and The New York Times, spurring the #MeToo movement around the country.

Weinstein has repeatedly said he didn't have non-consensual sex with anyone.

Vance's office previously investigated similar allegations by model Ambra Battilana Guitierrez in 2015. Guitierrez filed a report with the NYPD after the incident, which she said occurred in Weinstein's hotel room. The next day she returned wearing a wire, and in a recording later obtained and published by The New Yorker, Weinstein admitted to groping her and apologized.

At the time, Vance declined to press charges, saying there was insufficient evidence.