Film producer David Guillod charged with sexual assault, abduction

Filmp producer David Guillod has been charged with rape, sexual assault and kidnapping of four women in California.

David Guillod an executive producer on Extraction, is the latest Hollywood personality to be swept up in the #MeToo movement.

He surrendered to police on Monday morning in Santa Barbara, near Los Angeles.

He faces a total of 11 felony charges for the incidents spanning back to 2012, and a maximum sentence of 21 years to life in prison, the prosecutors said. The producer denies all the charges, his lawyer said.

“Mr Guillod has been vilified for eight years without being afforded the opportunity to examine under oath his accusers,” said Philip Cohen in a statement.

“Justice is rarely swift and often does not come easy; but Mr Guillod very much looks forward to clearing his name in the appropriate forum.”

Guillod has been publicly accused of sexual assault by actress Jessica Barth, who said the producer had drugged her during a 2012 meeting.

The case was investigated by Los Angeles police but closed two years later.

Barth went public with the allegation in 2017, in the wake of the #MeToo movement, and after another actress reportedly contacted her with a similar account. Guillod stepped down as chief executive of Primal Wave Entertainment soon after.

On Monday, he was charged with incidents involving three unnamed women in Santa Barbara, and one in Los Angeles in 2012 that will be prosecuted in Santa Barbara.

Cohen, the attorney, said Guillod had cooperated with law enforcement, and evidence including emails and text messages “tell a story very different than that which is being alleged.”

“We find the unification of the cases filed through the Santa Barbara DA’s office and the timing suspicious,” he added.

A high-profile talent manager, Guillod executive produced Charlize Theron’s Atomic Blonde in 2017, and this year’s Netflix thriller Extraction starring Chris Hemsworth.

He remained in police custody Monday afternoon with bail set at $3 million, the attorney’s office said.