Hollywood producer Eric Weinberg arrested on sex assault charges

LOS ANGELES - A television writer/producer who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women who claim he lured them to his Los Feliz home for photo shoots was free on bail Wednesday following his arrest on an assortment of sex charges.

Eric Weinberg -- whose credits include "Scrubs," "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher," "Californication" and "American Dad" -- was arrested Tuesday by Los Angeles police, according to jail records.

Weinberg, 62, was booked and had his bail set at $5 million; he was freed on bond late Tuesday night.

Court records show that Weinberg was charged Sept. 28 with 18 criminal counts, including rape, sexual battery, assault, oral copulation, false imprisonment and forcible penetration by a foreign object. District Attorney George Gascón was expected to discuss the charges during a Wednesday afternoon news conference.

Weinberg was initially arrested in July at his home in the 1900 block of Edgemont Street. At the time, police said he was suspected of "sexual assaults including rape" that occurred between 2012 and 2019. LAPD investigators said Weinberg "appears to have targeted women in grocery stores, coffee shops and other public places" and invited them to his home for photo shoots, where the alleged sexual assaults took place.

After that arrest, he was released on $3.2 million bail.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, more than two dozen women talked to the publication describing a pattern of predatory behavior by Weinberg dating back as early as 2000. The women told the paper Weinberg would use his Hollywood credentials to lure women to his home for photo shoots, during which he would pressure them to disrobe.

Some women accused him of engaging in sexual activity without their consent -- acts that he would sometimes photograph, according to THR.