TV producer Eric Weinberg has been charged with 18 counts of forcible rape and assault.
Weinberg, 62, who produced TV shows like Scrubs and Anger Management, allegedly sexually assaulted five women from 2014 to 2019.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a release, “The defendant relied on his Hollywood credentials to lure young women for photo shoots where he allegedly sexually assaulted them. Power and influence can corrupt some to hurt others that often leads to a lifetime of trauma for those who are victimized.”
The earliest assault dates back to 2014, when Weinberg, on two different occasions, walked up to two women and claimed he was a photographer. The women later went to his home where he sexually assaulted them.
Three years later, Weinberg used the same scenario to bring a young woman back to his home where he sexually assaulted her.
Weinberg also is accused of sexually assaulting two women in separate incidents in 2018 and 2019.
Civil rights attorney Micha Star Liberty is representing a number of the accusers.
Liberty said, “I have the honor of representing a group of strong, talented, fearless women who have all suffered enormous trauma at the hands of a rich and powerful perpetrator. Their collective search for justice and accountability starts with the alleged actions of Eric Weinberg, but will not be complete until his enablers and those to covered up his abuse are held responsible as well.”
“Every day I am in awe of the strength and determination it takes for sexual violence survivors to come forward. It is my privilege to help them,” Liberty added.
This is not the first arrest for Weinberg. He was also arrested back in 2014 for insulting a woman, who was later identified as Kayra Raecke.
Raecke said, “I agreed to do the photoshoot with him, but insisted I would keep my clothes on. However, Weinberg forced me to undress before he attacked me by choking me with one hand and taking pictures with the other.”
“After I had said no so many times, he continued doing what he wanted anyway. I didn’t know what else he was capable of, including violence. I thought there was a real possibility that I might die there,” Raecke recalled.
Raecke’s accusations are what sparked the investigation and lead to Weinberg’s arrest, but he was not charged because of insufficient evidence at the time.
It’s not confirmed if she’s one of the accusers included in the new complaint.
Weinberg’s divorce attorney said, “The claims were “strategically placed criminal allegations” based on “a heavily litigated and acrimonious custody dispute.”
Weinberg was charged with six counts of sexual penetration by use of force, four counts of oral copulation, three counts of forcible rape, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count each of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, attempted sexual penetration by use of force and false imprisonment by violence.
He was released from jail after posting a $5 million bond and is due in court to be arraigned on Oct. 30.
The Los Angeles Police Department said, “Weinberg is a serial sexual assault suspect who appears to have targeted women in grocery stores, coffee shops and other public places. Weinberg would approach the women who were in their 20-30s under the guise of being a photographer and would set up photo shoots with them. Once the women were in his residence, he would sexually assault them during the photo shoot.”
Detectives also claim Weinberg may have more unidentified victims that could date back to the early 1990s.
