Prosecutors close Steven Seagal sex assault inquiry without charges

[rooster59]

Prosecutors close Steven Seagal sex assault inquiry without charges

By Alex Dobuzinskis

 

U.S. actor Steven Seagal talks to the media in Uzunu, 40 km (24 miles) south of Bucharest November 17, 2013. REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel/File Photo

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles prosecutors said on Friday they were declining to bring a criminal case against actor Steven Seagal stemming from an allegation that he sexually assaulted a minor in 2002, citing California's statute of limitations.

 

The decision marked the second time this year the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office decided against charging Seagal with a crime in connection with an accusation of sexual assault from more than a decade in the past.

 

In the most recent case, a woman whose name has not been released by prosecutors reported to Los Angeles police that Seagal sexually assaulted her in 2002 when she was a minor, the District Attorney's Office said in a document released on Friday.

 

Prosecutors said the investigation found insufficient corroborating evidence for a sexual assault allegation dating back that far in time.

 

"Therefore, the case is declined due to the expiration of the statute of limitations," it said.

 

Prosecutors did not give details about the circumstances surrounding the alleged assault.

 

Seagal, 66, the star of 1990s action movies such as "Hard to Kill" and "Under Siege," was made a Russian citizen by President Vladimir Putin in 2016 and this year was named by Moscow as a special representative for Russian-U.S. humanitarian ties.

 

A representative for Seagal could not be reached for comment.

 

Lisa Bloom, an attorney for the accuser, said in a statement on Friday that her client was 17 at the time of the alleged encounter.

 

Bloom faulted a statute of limitations requirement that she said "seems to presume that victims are lying, creating an unfairly high evidentiary standard not required in other criminal cases."

 

In an earlier unrelated case, Los Angeles prosecutors declined in September to charge Seagal in connection with an accusation of sexual assault dating to 1993, citing the statute of limitations in that investigation as well.

 

With the closing of the latest investigation Los Angeles prosecutors are no longer reviewing any case involving Seagal, District Attorney's Office spokesman Greg Risling said in an email.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-22

 

[BritManToo]

Common sense at last, no evidence = no charge.

[spidermike007]

Having lived in LA for many, many years, and having had some friends who work in the industry, one thing is abundantly clear. Movie stars do not need to assault women. An extraordinary selection of women of all ages, are constantly offering themselves, at the feet of these idols. Fame is a disease in the world right now. Some people will do anything, and I do mean anything, just to be near a star, or even a person that they have seen on TV once or twice! So, I tend to question alot of these accusations. It is so easy to make an accusation of this sort. Where is the burden of proof? I think the laws should be changed, so that if a woman makes an accusation such as this one, especially if it is 5-30 years after the fact, they should be legally required to present evidence, or be liable for libel. There needs to be some threshold for these kinds of accusations.