LOS ANGELES (AP) — Eric Weinberg, an executive producer and writer for the hit TV show “Scrubs” and many others, has been charged with sexually assaulting five women that he lured to photo shoots and there could be many more victims, Los Angeles County prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Weinberg,
62, was arrested Tuesday, nearly a week after he was charged with 18 felony
counts including rape, oral copulation, forcible sexual penetration, sexual
battery by restraint, false imprisonment by use of violence, assault by means
of force likely to cause great bodily injury and attempted forcible penetration
with a foreign object, according to the district attorney’s office.
He was
released that day on a $5 million bond. His arraignment was scheduled for Oct.
25.
An email to
an agent for Weinberg seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned.
Weinberg was
charged for alleged attacks between 2014 and 2019, but investigators say they
believe there may be other victims of assaults dating back to the 1990s,
District Attorney George Gascón said at a news conference.
“The defendant relied on his Hollywood
credentials to lure young women for photo shoots where he allegedly sexually
assaulted them,” Gascón said. “Power and influence can corrupt some to hurt
others, that often leads to a lifetime of trauma for those who are victimized.”
LAPD Detective
Ryan Lamar said investigators were looking into information received from a tip
line regarding possible other assaults by Weinberg.
Weinberg was
previously investigated several times by police, but the DA’s office didn’t
file charges for lack of evidence, Gascón said.
Weinberg was
co-executive producer on nearly 100 episodes of the NBC hospital dramedy
“Scrubs” between 2000 and 2006 and also wrote nearly a dozen episodes,
according to the IMDB website.
He also was
co-executive producer for “Californication” in 2007 and had producing and
writing credits on other shows, including “Anger Management,” “Men at Work,”
“Veronica’s Closet” and “Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.”
In 2020,
documents filed in Weinberg’s divorce and child custody proceedings included
allegations by three women that he sexually assaulted them during photo shoots,
the Los Angeles Times reported.
One woman
alleged that she met Weinberg at a North Hollywood coffee shop in 2014 when she
was 22 and he convinced her to come to a photo shoot at his home where she
stripped to her underwear. The woman alleged that while taking photos, Weinberg
grabbed her, forced to perform oral sex, choked her and then raped her,
according to documents cited by the Times.