Former “Scrubs” executive producer Eric Weinberg was denied bail Tuesday after he pleaded not guilty to rape and multiple other sexual assault charges during his arraignment hearing in a Los Angeles courtroom.
Mr. Weinberg, who was previously out on a $5 million bail, was remanded into custody after L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez told the court that he is “a danger to society,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“He approached any young female and uses his status as a writer-producer to manipulate these women,” Ms. Martinez continued.
His defense attorney argued for house arrest, but the judge sided with the prosecution.
Mr. Weinberg was arrested in July, accused of sexually assaulting five women that he lured to photo shoots between 2014 and 2019, according to the district attorney’s office.
He faces 18 charges in total, including multiple counts of sexual penetration by use of force, oral copulation, forcible rape, and sexual battery by restraint. He also faces single counts of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, attempted sexual penetration by use of force and false imprisonment by violence.
The former producer approached two women in public in 2014 and told them he was a photographer, according to the district attorney’s office. He eventually met the victims at his home, where he was accused of sexually assaulting them.
Prosecutors said Mr. Weinberg used the same tactic in 2017, and again was accused of sexually assaulting a woman. He is also being charged for sexually assaulting two different women in 2018 and 2019.
The district attorney said that since his arrest over the summer, “dozens of additional potential victims have contacted law enforcement.”
Mr. Weinberg was a co-executive producer for nearly 100 episodes of the hospital sitcom “Scrubs” from 2000 to 2006 and also wrote roughly a dozen episodes, according to the database IMDB.
He is also credited as a co-executive producer for “Californication” in 2007, and had producing and writing credits on other shows such as “Anger Management” and “Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.”
