Paul Haggis has been arrested in Italy on suspicion of sexual assault
Key Takeaways:
- Film director Paul Haggis was arrested on Sunday, according to local officials, for an investigation into allegations that he sexually molested a woman in southern Italy.
- Paul is a screenwriter, producer, and filmmaker. In 2006, he won an Academy Award for Crash for best original screenplay.
According to local officials, film director Paul Haggis was arrested on Sunday for an inquiry into charges that he sexually abused a lady in southern Italy. The 69-year-old Canadian-born Oscar winner is in Italy for a film festival on Tuesday in Ostuni, a tourist resort in Puglia. This region forms the "heel" of the Italian peninsula.
Prosecutors in the nearby city of Brindisi issued a written statement alleging that a "young foreign woman" was forced to have "non-consensual" sexual encounters over two days, according to the news agency LaPresse and numerous other Italian news outlets.
Priya Chaudhry, Paul's lawyer, said that while he couldn't reveal the evidence because of Italian law, "I am convinced that all claims against Mr. Haggis will be dropped." He is completely innocent and eager to fully cooperate with authorities so that the truth can be revealed as soon as possible."
The lady was "forced to seek medical attention" after the sexual contact, according to prosecutors Antonio Negro as well as Livia Orlando, who is leading the inquiry. After an occasional day of "non-consensual relations," the woman was "escorted to Brindisi airport by the male" on Sunday and "abandoned there in the morning despite (her) poor physical and psychological state."
On Sunday, the Brindisi prosecutor's office was closed. According to the prosecution, airport workers and police spotted her "clearly confused state" and "brought her to Brindisi's police headquarters, where officers transported her to a local hospital for assessment after offering first treatment." Police in the operations room at headquarters said they weren't permitted to release details about the case, such as whether Paul was being kept inside the police station or in a hotel or other housing.
Paul is a filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter. He got an Academy Award for best original screenplay for Crash in 2006.
The woman "formalized her accusation and highlighted circumstances that were later looked into for confirmation by detectives," according to prosecutors. Her nationality and age were not mentioned.