Steven Seagal Will Not Face Charges In Sexual Assault Case, District Attorney Declines To Prosecute
Steven Seagal will not faces charges for his sexual assault allegations after the L.A. County District Attorney’s office declined to file charges.
The actor had been accused of groping a woman during an audition, but prosecutors said they did not have sufficient evidence to proceed with the case. As the New York Post reported, the woman claimed that Seagal asked her to strip down to a bikini and instructed her to do a “romantic scene” with him.
“And then he started pinching my nipples and grabbing my crotch area with his other hand,” the woman, Faviola Dadis, told the The Wrap. “I quickly yelled, ‘This audition is over!’ ”
Seagal had been previously investigated by the Beverly Hills Police Department after an allegation that he had sexually assaulted a woman in 1993. As the New York Post reported, that case ended up falling outside of the statute of limitations. A total of 11 women have accused the actor of sexual misconduct.
Lisa Bloom, who represented Faviola Davis in the current allegations, said they appreciated the District Attorney Office’s review of the case but said their hands were tied by a law that required older cases have “independent, corroborating evidence.”
Bloom said the law was a disservice to victims, especially younger ones.
“The law fails to recognize that few minors are emotionally ready to seek justice against their rapists until many years later. Instead, it offers rapists a ‘get out of jail free’ card if they simply pass an arbitrary time deadline,” Bloom said. “And the law seems to presume that victims are lying, creating an unfairly high evidentiary standard not required in other criminal cases. Few rapists commit their crimes in the presence of witnesses.”
The allegations against Steven Seagal were highlighted as part of the #MeToo movement, joining other Hollywood figures in facing allegations of sexual misconduct. The actor walked out of an interview after being asked about the allegations in a BBC interview.
As the Hollywood Reporter noted, BBC Newsnight host Kirsty Wark asked Seagal about how he had been “very much caught up in allegations,” prompting Seagal to remove his earpiece and walk out of his chair without saying a word.
L.A. district attorney declines to charge Steven Seagal in sexual assault case https://t.co/W97s0WxI9L pic.twitter.com/OMwBtKBSdZ
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 22, 2018
Steven Seagal also faced allegations from a number of Hollywood actresses, including Julianna Margulies and Portia de Rossi. Jenny McCarthy also recounted an uncomfortable experience with the actor, saying that Seagal requested her to take off her clothes while she was auditioning for the 1995 movie Under Siege 2, per USA Today.
