Actress Annabella Sciorra reportedly shared details of her rape accusation against producer Harvey Weinstein on Thursday as part of the ongoing criminal trial against the disgraced media mogul.
Sciorra’s accusation of Weinstein is too far in the past to be charged as rape under New York law, but prosecutors are using the actress’s testimony to bolster a charge of predatory sexual assault, according to The New York Times.
On the witness stand in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Sciorra detailed to the court how Weinstein allegedly raped her after shoving his way into her Manhattan apartment, according to the Times.
She said Weinstein drove her home after a dinner with several other people and dropped her off. As she was preparing for bed, she said she heard a knock on the door, opened it and it was Weinstein who shoved his way in and forced her onto her bed.
“I was trying to get him off me,” Sciorra told the jury, according to the Times. “I was punching him, kicking him.”
She said Weinstein held her down, adding that “he got on top of me and he raped me.”
Five more of Weinstein’s accusers are expected to testify during the trial, but his charges of rape and criminal sexual acts are based on allegations of only two of them, according to the Times.
Weinstein has denied the numerous allegations of assault against him.
Sciorra said the alleged rape took place in either late 1993 or early 1994.
Sciorra reportedly said that she later confronted Weinstein about what happened, and said he told her “this remains between you and I.”
Sciorra said she never called the police, when questioned by prosecutor Joan Illuzzi, adding that she was “confused.”
“He was someone I knew,” Sciorra said, according to the Times. “I felt at the time that rape was something that happened in a back alleyway in a dark place.”
Following the alleged rape, Sciorra said she started to drink and cut. She also said that Weinstein continued to harass her.
She said she remained mostly silent until October 2017 when she spoke to a journalist, seemingly referring to Ronan Farrow who reported on the alleged rape in The New Yorker.