L.A. Prosecutors Won’t Pursue Criminal Case Against Les Moonves
District Attorney’s office said it won’t prosecute CBS CEO because too much time has elapsed.
(Bloomberg) -- The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office said it won’t prosecute CBS Corp. Chief Executive Officer Les Moonves for alleged sex crimes because too much time has elapsed to pursue incidents from the 1980s.
A woman who called herself an acquaintance of Moonves formally complained to authorities last year, accusing the network chief of sexual assault, assault and battery and of exposing himself. The unidentified woman said the first incident was in July 1986 and that two more happened on New Year’s Day in 1988, according to a Los Angeles Police Department report that identifies Moonves as a "VIP."
"Victim encountered suspect through employment in the television industry," according to the police report.
The investigation was handled by the police department’s entertainment sex crimes task force, said Greg Risling, a spokesman for District Attorney Jackie Lacey. The district attorney’s decision not to pursue the matter was first reported by NBC News earlier on Tuesday.
The alleged victim disclosed the 1988 incidents to a friend about a year before filing a police report, according to Lacey’s office. Prosecutors decided in February that the statute of limitations had expired on the three alleged crimes, according to the prosecutor’s report.
A spokesperson for CBS declined to comment.
--With assistance from Lucas Shaw.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Wollman at ewollman@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg
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