Los Angeles City Attorney won't be prosecuting Venit over an alleged groping incident in February 2016 because it 'was beyond the statute of limitations.'
Terry Crews' criminal complaint against WME agent Adam Venit is not going forward after the Los Angeles County District Attorney and Los Angeles City Attorney declined to prosecute.
ET can confirm that the L.A. County District Attorney’s office declined to prosecute Venit after looking into the case for potential felony prosecution for the alleged groping of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine star during an industry event in 2016.
In the D.A.'s charge evaluation document, obtained by ET, they explained their reasoning behind denying a felony charge, writing, "Given that the suspect did not make contact with the victim's skin when he grabbed the victim's genitals and there is no restraint involved, a felony filing is declined."
The case was then referred to the L.A. City Attorney for potential misdemeanor prosecution. However, a spokesperson for the L.A. City Attorney’s office tells ET that they have "rejected the matter because the incident was beyond the statute of limitations."
The statute of limitations for misdemeanors is one year. The alleged incident occurred in February 2016, however Crews did not file a criminal complaint until November 2017.
Crews first went public with his allegations in October amid the flurry of accusations first made by many actresses against Harvey Weinstein. The actor took to Twitter, where he claimed Venit -- whom he did not refer to by name until a later date -- sexually assaulted him.
"My wife n I were at a Hollywood function last year n a high level Hollywood executive came over 2 me and groped my privates," Crews wrote in a series of tweets. "Jumping back I said What are you doing?! My wife saw everything n we looked at him like he was crazy. He just grinned like a jerk."
Crews said he kept quiet about the incident for fear of it harming his career.
However, he filed a criminal complaint two months after those tweets and filed a lawsuit against Venit and WME. While criminal charges are not being pursued against Venit, Crew's civil lawsuit is still pending and there is a hearing set for April 4.
ET's Kevin Frazier spoke with Crews and his wife, Rebecca King-Crews, back in February, and the 49-year-old actor opened up about being one of the most vocal male figures in the Me Too movement.
"I was ready to go it alone, to be honest. Because I was prepared to be ostracized, just like women are," he shared. "I've been shocked because I think it really woke a lot of people up to the fact that if it can happen to Terry Crews, it can happen to all of us. Man, woman, child."
Crews also said he's gotten a lot of support for coming out with his story, but that he didn't do it for support, but to generate support for others.
"The reason I did come out in the first place is because the women weren’t getting support, and that was the thing," he shared.
RELATED CONTENT:
