ROME – Police in the southern Italian city of Brindisi say the Brit who accused Oscar winner Paul Haggis of brutal rape has injuries consistent with her allegations. “I was raped for days,” the woman told investigating prosecutor Antonio Negro, according to a summary of the arrest document shared with The Daily Beast. “We were supposed to work together, but instead he raped me Sunday night through Wednesday.”
The woman, who Negro’s office says has a British passport, was left by the director outside Brindisi airport in the province of Apulia, lying on the heel of Italy’s boots, before dawn last Wednesday, she said to police. She says she didn’t have a plane ticket, but he gave her money to buy one when the airport opened, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say the woman was spotted in a corner of the small airport by a flight attendant, who immediately alerted authorities. “It was destroyed,” said the police companion, according to the first investigation document. “She spoke with difficulty.”
After an initial medical examination at the airport’s health clinic, she was taken to hospital for treatment under Italy’s “Pink Protocol” for rape victims, which includes psychological counseling. Prosecutors say she suffered “repeated sexual assault without consent,” including one that was so violent that she “was forced to see a doctor.”
This horrifying event apparently brought her ordeal to an end as Haggis drove her to the airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The coroner’s report states that she was unable to have sex as a result of the violence.
Prosecutors say he drove her alone, after she was incapacitated, from the tourist town of Ostuni, around an hour away, to the airport, where the 69-year-old, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by four other women, was headlining the Allora Fest Starring Oliver Stone, Matt Dillon, Edward Norton and Marisa Tomei. The music and film festival immediately distanced itself from Haggis and canceled all events he was expected to attend.
Police then investigated the new allegations and examined camera footage outside Haggis’ hotel room and the airport, which reportedly proves she was with him. They then waited until the woman was safely out of Italy to arrest the director in Ostuni on Sunday. His family had since joined him. He is being held in the provincial capital, Brindisi, where he will face the Italian equivalent of a charge on Monday or Tuesday.
One of Haggis’ attorneys, Priya Chaudhry, declined to comment on the case to , citing a nonexistent “law” that bars her from commenting on ongoing cases. “Nevertheless, I am confident that all allegations against Mr. Haggis will be dismissed,” Chaudhry said in an email to the outlet. “He is completely innocent and willing to cooperate fully with the authorities so that the truth is quickly brought to light.”
Haggis wrote two Best Picture Oscar films, in 2014, Million Dollar Baby and in 2005, Crash. The latest incident isn’t the first time the Canadian director has gotten into legal trouble. Publicist Haleigh Breest filed an ongoing civil lawsuit against him in 2017, accusing him of violence. Three other women came forward a year later and said he sexually abused them. He denies all allegations.
Haggis, who left the Church of Scientology in 2009, has claimed that the allegations of sexual abuse were merely retaliatory actions by the church. His accusers dispute this claim.