The co-executive producer of the hit US comedy show Scrubs has been charged with 18 counts of sexual assault.
Eric Weinberg is accused of using his “Hollywood credentials” to lure several young women to photo shoots before assaulting them, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney.
The 62-year-old’s charges include six counts of sexual penetration by use of force, four counts of oral copulation, three counts of forcible rape, and two counts of sexual battery by restraint.
All of them stem from alleged incidents involving five women between 2014 and 2019.
He was not working on Scrubs at the time of the alleged offences, with the show coming to end in March 2010 after airing for more than nine years.
Weinberg also faces charges of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, attempted sexual penetration by use of force and false imprisonment by violence.
On separate occasions in 2014, he approached two women at public locations and told them he was a photographer, according to the district attorney.
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After communicating with each of the victims, they eventually went to his home, where he is accused of sexually assaulting them.
Weinberg then allegedly used the same ruse to bring another young woman to his house and sexually assault her in 2017.
In 2018 and 2019, he is accused of sexually assaulting two more women in separate incidents.
“The defendant relied on his Hollywood credentials to lure young women for photo shoots, where he allegedly sexually assaulted them,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said.
“Power and influence can corrupt some to hurt others, that often leads to a lifetime of trauma for those who are victimised.”
The writer, who also worked on the show Californication, was arrested in July but has since been released from jail after posting a $5m (£4.4m) bond.
He is expected to appear in court on 25 October.
The case is still under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and further victims or anyone with information have been urged to contact detectives.
