Harvey Weinstein accuser and #MeToo figurehead Asia Argento secretly paid off a former child star who accused her of sexually assaulting him when he was 17, according to a new report.

Argento, 42, is accused of luring Jimmy Bennett to her Californian hotel room in 2013. Once there, she sent away his chaperone, plied him with alcohol and showed him her love letters before kissing the teen.

The Italian actress, who is 20 years his senior, then pushed him onto the bed where she performed oral sex on Bennett before climbing on top of him and having sex with him, he claimed in his notice of intent to sue the actress.

Bennett, who once played Argento's son in a movie when he was seven years old, filed the notice in November 2017 - just one month after she became one of the first actresses to publicly accuse disgraced Miramax producer Weinstein of sexual assault.

Newly released documents, first obtained by the New York Times, reveal that Argento, who was dating celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain until his suicide in June, settled the claim out of court earlier this year for $380,000.

Scroll down for video

Harvey Weinstein accuser and #MeToo figurehead Asia Argento (left) secretly paid off a former child star Jimmy Bennett (right) who accused her of sexually assaulting him when he was 17, according to a new report

Argento posted a photo of herself hugging then-17-year-old Bennett on May 9, 2013, at the hotel where she is accused of sexually assaulting him

She captioned the photo, posted the same day as the alleged assault, referring to Bennett as 'my son' and 'my love'

The original notice, which was sent to the newspaper anonymously from an encrypted email, asked for $3.5 million in damages for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, lost wages, assault and battery.

It was sent to Anthony Bourdain's lawyer, Richard Hofstetter, who was representing Argento at the time.

In it, Bennett's lawyers, who had characterized the hotel encounter as 'sexual battery', claimed the sexual assault was so traumatizing that it had affected their client's acting career.

Argento has not responded to The Times' multiple requests for comment. DailyMail.com has also reached out for comment.

Bennett also declined to comment.

Bennett, now 22, played Argento's son in The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things in 2004 when he was just seven.

The pair have met up again on several occasions since and often refer to each other as mother and son on social media.

'Waiting for my long lost son my love @jimmymbennett in trepidation #marinadelrey smoking cigarettes like there was no next week,' the Italian actress wrote on Instagram on May 9, 2013.

Bennett, now 22, played Argento's son in The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things in 2004 when he was just seven years old (pictured together in the movie)

Argento and Bennett often referred to each other as mother and son on social media after they appeared in the movie together (pictured Agento, with Bennett (center) and Dylan and Cole Sprouse in 2004)

Bennett responded: 'I'm almost there!:)'

It was during that reunion, in her room at a Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey, California on May 9, that the assault is alleged to have occurred.

According to the notice to sue, Bennett had been taken to the hotel by a family member, but Argento asked them to leave so she could be alone with him.

She then allegedly gave the young actor alcohol and began kissing him. Bennett claims she pushed him onto the bed, removed his pants and performed oral sex on him. She climbed on top of the 17-year-old and the pair had sex, according to the notice of intent.

The age of consent in California is 18.

The document, according to the Times, also included three photos apparently taken by Bennett during the encounter which showed him and Argento, both half naked, in bed together, although only one of the photos showed their faces.

Argento later posted on Instagram that she'd had the: 'Happiest day of my life reunion with @jimmymbennett xox.'

'Jimmy is going to be in my next movie and that is a fact, dig that jack,' she added.

She shared several more pictures of herself and the teen on that day, including a photo of herself hugging the teen in what appears to be the dining room of the hotel.

She captioned it: 'My son my love until I will live @jimmymbennett marina del ray 05.2013.'

Bennett said that as he headed back to his parents' house in Orange County he felt 'extremely confused, mortified, and disgusted.'

Yet a month later, he sent Argento a tweet which read: 'Miss you momma!!!!' along with a photo of an engraved bracelet she had given him to commemorate the movie.

Bennett was just 17 when he claim that Argento performed oral sex on him and slept with him in her California hotel room in 2013. He is pictured that same year at the 'Movie 43' film premiere

Argento, pictured hugging Bennett on the first day of their The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things shoot, with Winona Ryder in 2004, kept in touch with her former costar, sharing throwback pictures on Instagram (above). The pair would often refer to each other as mother and son

Argento and Bennett kept in touch over social media for years after the movie. Bennett appears to have suspended his social media accounts

In November 2017, Bennett's attorneys sent the notice to sue arguing that the former child actor, who starred in Firewall across from Harrison Ford, had his earning power diminished by the alleged assault because of the psychological damage he's been left with.

It states he earned more than $2.7 million in the five years before the 2013 encounter, but his income has since dropped to around $60,000 a year.

In recent years, he has had smaller roles on TV and on the big screen, with his most recent credit playing Dustin in 2017 movie Heartthrob. Bennett, who reportedly lives with his parents and sister in Huntington Beach, California, also plays guitar and sings on his YouTube channel.

Argento's lawyer Carrie Goldberg sent a letter Argento in April setting out the final details of the settlement, she appeared to console the actress.

'We hope nothing like this ever happens to you again,' Goldberg wrote. 'You are a powerful and inspiring creator and it is a miserable condition of life that you live among shitty individuals who've preyed on both your strengths and your weaknesses.'

A month prior to Bennett's notice, The New Yorker published its bombshell expose featuring 13 women who accused Weinstein of harassment and rape.

Among those 13 was Argento.

The Italian star told the New Yorker that Weinstein raped her in 1997 at a party hosted by Miramax at the Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc. She claims the mogul led her to an empty room and asked her to give him a massage.

Argento posted multiple photos of Bennett, and the two of them together on the day of the alleged assault, with fawning captions where she refers to him as her 'son'

Bennett (pictured in recent Instagram photos) claimed his career as an actor had been stymied by the emotional distress he suffered

Argento (pictured this year) settled his sex assault claim earlier this year for $380,000

She reluctantly agreed, and halfway through he began to perform oral sex on her after forcibly lifting up her skirt despite her repeated requests for him to stop.

Argento says that she became suspicious when the party she arrived at was just an empty hotel room, but was assured that people would soon be arriving by Weinstein.

Then, he emerged from the bathroom in a robe and holding a bottle of lotion says the actress, who was just 21 at the time.

'He asks me to give a massage. I was, like, 'Look man, I am no f***ing fool,'' said Argento.

'But, looking back, I am a f***ing fool. And I am still trying to come to grips with what happened.'

ARGENTO'S SPEECH ON SEXUAL 'PREDATORS' AT CANNES Asia Argento made a powerful speech about Weinstein and sexual abuse and harassment in the entertainment industry at Cannes in May. She labelled the festival Weinstein's 'hunting ground'. 'In 1997, I was raped by Harvey Weinstein here at Cannes. I was 21 years old,' Argento said while presenting onstage during the festival's closing ceremony. 'Even tonight, sitting among you, there are those who have still to be held accountable for their conduct against women,' she said. 'You know who you are. But most importantly we know who you are. And we're not going allow you to get away with it any longer. Argento said Weinstein 'will never be welcomed here ever again.' 'He will live in disgrace, shunned by a film community that once embraced him and covered up for his crimes,' she said. 'I want to make a prediction. Harvey Weinstein will never be welcomed here ever again. He will live in disgrace, shunned by a film community that once embraced him and covered up for his crimes.' Advertisement

The actress, who is the daughter of famed Italian director Dario Argento, said that once Weinstein began performing oral sex on her there was no way for her to stop him because he was so much bigger than her.

'It wouldn't stop. It was a nightmare,' said Argento, who eventually decided to pretend she was enjoying the act in hopes that it would end.

When it was over, Argento said she said on the bed and told her attacked: 'I am not a whore.'

He laughed at her and said he would put that on a shirt according to Argento, who said that Weinstein contacted her for months after the attack and even began offering her expensive gifts.

Argento eventually relented and over time became close to her attacker, and even engaged in consensual relations with him she admits.

She explained the sudden shift by saying that it was a few months before the release of her 1999 film 'B. Monkey' and she was afraid that if she did not agree to Weinstein's advances he might destroy her career.

The following year, Argento released her film 'Scarlet Diva,' which had a scene similar to the one she experienced three years earlier in France.

In that film, a young actress is cornered by a big producer in a room with one crucial difference.

'In the movie I wrote, I ran away,' said Argento.

When she told Weinstein that the character was based on him he simply laughed said Argento.

In has been 20 years now since that encounter, and Argento still struggles, especially when she sees Weinstein.

Argento, who was dating celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain before his death, was one of the first actresses to accuse disgraced Miramax producer Weinstein of sexual assault in October last year

'When I see him, it makes me feel little and stupid and weak,' said Argento. 'After the rape, he won.'

In total, 13 women told the New Yorker that they were sexually harassed or assaulted by Weinstein and three said that they were raped.

The explosive expose empowered dozens more women to come forward and share their allegations of assault, rape and harassment against Weinstein.

The film producer, who was fired from Miramax in the wake of the allegations, turned himself into police in May on multiple rape charges.

'Today Harvey Weinstein will take his first step on his inevitable descent to hell. We, the women, finally have real hope for justice,' Argento tweeted as Weinstein turned himself in.

Weinstein has 'unequivocally denied' all allegations of non-consensual sex.

The 66-year-old disgraced movie mogul was arrested, processed and booked for the alleged sexual assault of two women who previously shared their stories with the New Yorker back in October.

in June, he plead not guilty to charges of sexual assault and rape.

Argento's boyfriend Bourdain had been very supportive and was full of praise for the actress for initially going on record about her Weinstein rape allegations.

'When you went on record, @AsiaArgento you were sure this day would never come, that you would be crushed, that you were alone. And yet you did it anyway. #perpwalk,' he tweeted in May.

Argento was dating celebrity chef and writer Anthony Bourdain until his suicide in June (pictured together in September last year)

Bourdain, 61, and Argento met during the filming of his travel show Parts Unknown in 2016 and began dating a year later.

Shortly before he was found hanged in his French hotel room, a paparazzi caught Argento dancing in a Roman restaurant with French reporter Hugo Clément. They were also pictured holding hands and hugging on the streets of Rome.

Bourdain committed suicide on June 8, five days after the photos first appeared online.

Argento's friend and fellow Weinstein accuser, Rose McGowan, released a statement after his death, saying that the couple were in a 'free relationship' and 'loved without the borders of traditional relationships.'

Argento was devastated by Bourdain's death and released a heartbreaking statement following his suicide, where she described him as 'my love, my rock, my protector.'

'I am beyond devastated. Anthony gave all of himself in everything that he did,' she wrote on Twitter. 'His brilliant, fearless spirit touched and inspired so many, and his generosity knew no bounds.'