Disgraced TV producer Eric Weinberg will stand trial on multiple sexual assault charges, a Los Angeles County judge ruled Tuesday. Variety and the NYT.
The judge made the decision after days of testimony from Weinberg’s alleged victims, who said they feared for their lives during the alleged assaults that took place between 2014 and 2019.
Weinberg – who reportedly presented himself as a photographer – is accused of luring women he met in public and on dating apps/modeling websites to his Los Feliz home to sexually assault them.
He is charged with 28 counts of rape and sexual assault. Originally 32 charges, four were dropped: one due to insufficient evidence and three due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
Weinberg has pleaded not guilty and will be arraigned in June. If convicted, he faces more than 100 years in prison.
Disgraced TV producer Eric Weinberg will stand trial on multiple charges of sexual assault, a Los Angeles County judge ruled Tuesday, according to Variety and the NYT; seen in October 2022
One of the most prominent producers in TV, Weinberg produced several television shows over the course of his career, including Scrubs and American Dad.
For example, his first arrest in July 2022 sent shockwaves throughout the industry when the LA district attorney’s office revealed some of the charges against him.
In 2014, the office said Weinberg told two separate women he was a photographer, invited them to his home and sexually assaulted them.
Prosecutors said Weinberg repeated the ruse against another woman in 2017. He was also accused of sexually assaulting two women in separate incidents in 2018 and 2019, according to the agency’s complaint.
Detectives added at the time that more unidentified victims were likely, and that the producer’s illegal behavior could date back to the early 1990s.
Weinberg’s bail was subsequently set at an eye-watering $3.5 million, which he promptly paid and was allowed back on the streets — during which time the district attorney’s office continued to build its case against the once-respected TV writer .
The district attorney’s office further revealed in a press release that prior to that arrest, Weinberg had twice been “investigated by the LAPD on suspicion of assault, booking records and statements from the LAPD show.” At least one woman warned about the producer’s alleged predatory behavior in a Facebook group.
Officials at the time urged anyone with relevant information about their case to come forward — which dozens of possible victims reportedly complied with, with each incident reviewed for possible charges.
About three months later, in October 2022, Weinberg was arrested again — about a week after District Attorney George Gascón announced 18 charges against him — although he will now face 28 charges.
His alleged crimes include 18 counts of rape, oral copulation, forcible sexual penetration, sexual battery by restraint, false imprisonment by use of force and attempted forcible penetration with a foreign object.
Notorious for crime, Gascón at the time noted how the producer’s reign of terror likely went unchecked for more than a decade, lamenting how Weinberg was able to use the vast fortune he had amassed during that time to stay on the streets while officials collected evidence. to try.
Weinberg posted $5 million bond at the time and was released again, but was ultimately released on bail during a court appearance later that month — and remained in jail until Wednesday’s proceedings.
Weinberg – who reportedly presented himself as a photographer – is accused of luring women he met in public and on dating apps/modeling websites to his Los Feliz home to sexually assault them; Weinberg’s mugshot from July 2022
The judge made the decision after days of testimony from Weinberg’s alleged victims, who said they feared for their lives during the alleged assaults that took place between 2014 and 2019; Weinberg seen in October 2022
One of the most prominent producers in TV, Weinberg produced several television shows over the course of his career, including Scrubs and American Dad
“In this particular case, we have a man who believed he could wreak havoc and still remain untouchable, and he did that for years,” Gascón said, adding: “As we expected, he used his incredible wealth to save. ‘
The district attorney added that Weinberg was previously investigated several times by the city’s police department, but his office did not have the necessary evidence to pursue a case.
But after receiving dozens of tips through a hotline set up to support the case, prosecutors finally found the resources to pursue the case, bolstered by moving stories from the five unnamed women.
One of those victims was a 22-year-old whom he met in a coffee shop in 2014. She said he lured her back to his house and then forced her to perform oral sex on him, held her down and choked her so hard I thought I was going to pass out.”
The woman further alleged that while taking photos, Weinberg grabbed her, forced her to perform oral sex, strangled her and then raped her, according to court documents filed by Gascon’s office.
Court records show that three of Weinberg’s other accusers testified against him during the producer’s 2020 divorce.
An LAPD spokesperson described how Weinberg would attack women in public places before engaging in his predatory practices.
“Weinberg was a Hollywood producer/writer and appears to have targeted women in grocery stores, coffee shops and other public places,” the department said.
He ‘approached the women between the ages of twenty and thirty, under the guise of a photographer, and organized photo shoots with them.
“Once the women were in his home, he would sexually assault them during the photo shoot.”
He is charged with 28 counts of rape and sexual assault. Originally 32 charges, but four were dropped: one due to insufficient evidence and three due to expiration of the statute of limitations
Weinberg has pleaded not guilty and will be arraigned in June. If convicted, he faces more than 100 years in prison; seen in court in October 2022
He was first arrested in July 2022 and named a ‘suspect of serial sexual violence’ in connection with allegations made between 2012 and 2019
Weinberg (not pictured) was co-executive producer of nearly 100 episodes of Scrubs between 2000 and 2006. He was nominated for five Emmy Awards – two for his work on ‘Scrubs’
Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez, according to the LA timescalled Weinberg “a danger to all women” during a lawsuit in October 2022.
“He goes after every young woman and uses his status as a writer-producer to lure them in. He is a danger to all women,” she said.
Between 2000 and 2006, he was co-executive producer of nearly 100 episodes of Scrubs. He also has producing and writing credits on several other hit shows, including “Anger Management,” “Men at Work” and “Veronica’s Closet.”
He was nominated for five Emmy Awards – two for his work on ‘Scrubs’, three as part of Bill Maher’s old ABC talk show ‘Poliically Incorrect’ –