New York police say they have a viable case against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein after an actress accused him of raping her seven years ago.
Robert Boyce, of the New York Police Department, told reporters that the woman had presented a “credible and detailed narrative”.
Earlier, actress Paz de la Huerta told Vanity Fair that Weinstein raped her twice in New York in 2010.
Weinstein has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex made against him.
More than a dozen women have accused the 65-year-old of rape and many more have accused him of sexual harassment and performing indecent acts.
Mr Boyce, the New York Police Department chief of detectives, told a news conference that investigators interviewed an actress and were now looking to gather corroboratory evidence.
“She put forth a credible and detailed narrative to us,” he told reporters.
“We have an actual case here. Right now we are gathering our evidence.”
He added that as Weinstein was out of the state, police would need a court-ordered warrant if they wanted to arrest him.
New York police have also been investigating other claims against the producer.
De La Huerta, 33, who played Lucy Danziger in Boardwalk Empire, claims Weinstein raped her in November 2010 after offering her a lift home.
“It wasn’t consensual,” she is quoted as saying.
She claimed Weinstein raped her again the following month after arriving uninvited at her home.
“I did say no, and when he was on top of me I said, ‘I don’t want to do this’,” she is reported as saying.
De La Huerta claims Weinstein left after promising to give her a stage role.
“I never heard from him again,” she told Vanity Fair.
UK police investigating Harvey Weinstein are looking at sexual assault allegations from seven women.
Source: BBC