Kevin Spacey charged with sexual offenses against 3 men
Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects) has reportedly been charged with four counts of sexual assault against three men. As per Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the Oscar-winning actor has also been charged with "causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent." The alleged incidents took place between 2005 and 2013. Trigger Warning: Mentions of sexual assault.
Spacey (62) was in a Manhattan federal court to testify for a separate sexual assault lawsuit filed by actor Anthony Rapp on Thursday when news of the charges was announced. The alleged incidents took place in London in March 2005 and August 2008, with one taking place in 2013, somewhere in western England. The alleged victims are now in their 30s and 40s.
The decision to press charges against Spacey "follows a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police Service in its investigation." The charges were authorized on Thursday, but since Spacey is not currently in England or Wales, the charges cannot be formally applicable until he enters any of those countries. However, prosecutors can begin extradition proceedings if Spacey doesn't return to Britain.
In 2017, Rapp was the first to bring assault allegations against Spacey. Speaking to BuzzFeed, Rapp had described how the House of Cards actor made sexual advances toward him when he was 14. Spacey was 26 at that time. Although the Academy Award-winner said he couldn't remember the incident, he had later offered his apologies for a possible "drunken behavior."
Following the BuzzFeed interview, around 30 men spoke out against Spacey. London's Old Vic Theatre, where Spacey was an artistic director from 2004-2015, revealed it had received 20 allegations of inappropriate behavior. The actor faced two criminal charges and both were filed in 2018. One was regarding groping an 18-year-old man and the other by an anonymous masseuse. However, the cases were dismissed later.
