The co-executive producer of hit US comedy series Scrubs has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault.
Appearing at a court in downtown Los Angeles, California, Eric Weinberg was denied bail after entering his pleas.
He is to be held at the Twin Towers jail in LA, according to US media reports, ahead of the next court hearing planned for November.
Weinberg has pleaded not guilty to each of 18 charges of sexual assault.
The 62-year-old is accused of relying on his “Hollywood credentials” to lure young women to photo shoots where he allegedly assaulted them, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney.
The alleged incidents involve five women at different times between 2014 and 2019.
Weinberg was not working on hospital comedy Scrubs at the time of the alleged offences, with the show coming to end in March 2010 after airing for more than nine years. He worked on the show from 2001 to 2007.
Thief steals Lana Del Rey’s laptop with unheard tracks and 200 page book manuscript
Firefighter recordings reveal new details about attempt to rescue Anne Heche following car crash
Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, Sylvester Stallone and Kevin Hart ‘among LA residents warned about water waste’
The producer is charged with 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.
He also faces one count each of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, attempted sexual penetration by use of force and false imprisonment by violence.
Weinberg approached two women at public locations and told them he was a photographer on two separate occasions in 2014, according to prosecutors.
After allegedly communicating with each of the victims, they eventually went to his home, where he is accused of sexually assaulting them.
He then allegedly used the same tactic to take another young woman to his house, and allegedly sexually assaulted her, in 2017.
Weinberg is also accused of sexually assaulting two women in separate incidents in 2018 and 2019, the district attorney’s office said.
His next court appearance is due to take place on 15 November.
