L.A. prosecutors form special Hollywood sexual assault task force
Source: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey announced Thursday the creation of a special task force to examine allegations of sexual assault roiling Hollywood as the number of accusations reported to police this week climbed.
Lacey made the announcement Thursday as local law enforcement agencies investigate allegations made against such Hollywood heavyweights as producer Harvey Weinstein, director James Toback and actor Ed Westwick, among others.
The district attorney said she has assigned a group of veteran sex crimes prosecutors to work together to examine the cases and “ensure a uniformed approach to the legal review and possible prosecution of any case that meets both the legal and factual standards for criminal prosecution.”
Legal experts said the task force makes sense but continued to caution that such cases can be difficult to prove. Many of the alleged incidents occurred years ago, and detectives need to determine whether physical evidence or witness statements exist that can help build cases.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-da-sexual-task-force-prosecutors-20171109-story.html