'Scrubs' producer Eric Weinberg pleads not guilty to assault

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Eric Weinberg, executive producer for the hit TV show 'œScrubs," was denied bail on Tuesday after pleading not guilty to sexually assaulting five women whom prosecutors said he lured to photo shoots.

Weinberg was arrested earlier this month after being charged with 18 felony counts including rape, oral copulation, forcible sexual penetration, sexual battery by restraint, false imprisonment by use of violence, assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, and attempted forcible penetration with a foreign object, according to the district attorney's office.

Weinberg entered not guilty pleas during the arraignment Tuesday and his lawyers argued for his release pending the next court appearance.

Prosecutors called Weinberg a potential danger to society. Superior Court Judge Victoria B. Wilson agreed and denied bail while ordering Weinberg held in custody until he returns to court Nov. 15.

Weinberg, 62, has been charged for alleged attacks between 2014 and 2019, but investigators said they believe there may be other victims of assaults dating back to the 1990s, District Attorney George Gascón said at an Oct. 6 news conference. He has urged those victims to come forward.

LAPD Detective Ryan Lamar said this month that investigators were looking into information received from a tip line regarding other possible assaults by Weinberg.

Weinberg was co-executive producer on nearly 100 episodes of the NBC hospital dramedy 'œScrubs'ť between 2000 and 2006 and also wrote nearly a dozen episodes, according to the IMDB website.

He also was co-executive producer for 'œCalifornication'ť in 2007 and had producing and writing credits on other shows, including 'œAnger Management,'ť 'œMen at Work,'ť 'œVeronica's Closet'ť and 'œPolitically Incorrect with Bill Maher.'ť

In 2020, documents filed in Weinberg's divorce and child custody proceedings included allegations by three women that he sexually assaulted them during photo shoots, the Los Angeles Times reported.

One woman alleged that she met Weinberg at a North Hollywood coffee shop in 2014 when she was 22 and he convinced her to come to a photo shoot at his home where she stripped to her underwear. The woman alleged that while taking photos, Weinberg grabbed her, forced to perform oral sex, choked her and then raped her, according to documents cited by the Times.