Manhattan DA's office defends decision to not prosecute Weinstein for allegedly groping model

Published October 10, 2017

Model accuses Weinstein of groping her in police sting audio

The Manhattan DA’s Office doubled down Tuesday on its decision to not prosecute Harvey Weinstein for allegedly groping a model in his office in 2015 — and blamed the NYPD, in part, for not being able to make a case.

“If we could have prosecuted Harvey Weinstein for the conduct that occurred in 2015, we would have,” Chief Assistant DA Karen Friedman-Agnifilo said in a statement.

Friedman-Agnifilo’s explanation came in response to a bombshell New Yorker exposé published Tuesday that said Weinstein admitted on a secret NYPD recording that he fondled Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez.

On the two-minute recording, Gutierrez, then 22, accuses the disgraced movie mogul of groping her, saying, “Why yesterday you touched my breast?” as he tried to get her into a downtown Manhattan hotel room.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN ACCUSED OF RAPING 3 WOMAN, SEXUALLY HARASSING GWYNETH PALTROW, ANGELINA JOLIE

The alleged assault occurred March 27, 2015, at his nearby office.

Weinstein answers, “Oh, please. I’m sorry. Just come on in. I’m used to that.”

“You’re used to that?” Gutierrez asks, sounding shocked.

“Yes, come in,” Weinstein replies.

Weinstein is also heard promising that “I won’t do it again” and that “I will never do another thing to you.”

Friedman-Agnifilo said the recorded meeting between Gutierrez and Weinstein, as well as a controlled call between the two the night before, were made “without our knowledge or input.”