Los Angeles County prosecutors Wednesday began reviewing whether actor Sylvester Stallone should face charges in connection with a sexual assault reported last year to Santa Monica police, a spokesman said.

A special entertainment task force in the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office was handed the case against the Hollywood legend by Santa Monica police, district attorney spokesman Greg Risling confirmed. Risling would not comment further on the nature of the allegation.

The alleged victim reported the assault last November to Santa Monica police, and the incident dates to the 1990s, according to police. A criminal allegation dating to the 1990s cannot be charged under California law because it is past the statute of limitations that existed at the time.

Prosecutors reviewing cases in the wake of #MeToo movement have repeatedly run into issues of crimes being too old to prosecute under California law. Despite hundreds of women accusing director James Toback of sexual misconduct, Los Angeles prosecutors declined to file charges after five investigations were forwarded by police, mostly on grounds that they were beyond the legal statute of limitations.


In 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that amends the penal code so that some sex crimes, including rape, forcible sodomy and molestation of a child, can be be prosecuted, regardless of how long ago the crime occurred. The legislation was prompted by allegations against comedian Bill Cosby.

Martin Singer, Stallone’s attorney said the star of such movies as “Rocky” and “Rambo” had been notified of the allegation and categorically disputed the claims.

“It is a false claim. It is a complete fabrication,” Singer said.

Singer said Stallone had a consensual dating relationship years ago with the woman. The attorney said, “the woman here filed a police report to get a story published.”


Singer said the woman behind the report had first approached an entertainment website and when it did not publish a story, she made the police report. When Stallone’s legal team learned of the allegation, one of his lawyers filed a complaint with the Santa Monica investigator, contending the allegation amounted to a false police report.

The Times generally does not name people who report being a victim of a sexual assault.

Singer said Stallone’s representatives had not heard anything about the allegation for several months until Wednesday. The attorney noted that the forwarding of the investigation to prosecutors says nothing about the merits of the accusations and that police are generally required to forward such matters for review.

richard.winton@latimes.com


Twitter: @lacrimes

UPDATES:

6 p.m. This article was updated with additional comments from Stallone’s attorney.

This article was originally published at 4:15 p.m.