Criminal charges have been authorized against Oscar winner, former “House of Cards” actor, Kevin Spacey, 62, for four incidents of sexual assault against three men in the UK, according to the UK’s CPS Special Crime Division.
Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, Rosemary Ainslie, said the CPS reviewed evidence from the Metropolitan Police and also authorized a fifth charge against Spacey, of “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.”
However, Mr. Spacey cannot be formally charged unless he enters England or Wales. It is unclear whether extradition proceedings will be attempted.
The CPS emphasized that Spacey has the right to a fair trial.
The story has already hit the news and is all over social media.
The four charges refer to three incidents, two occurring in London in 2005 and 2008, and in 2013 in Gloucestershire. Mr. Spacey was artistic director of the Old Vic theater in London when the alleged assaults occurred. His position there lasted 11 years, until 2015.
The theater did a private investigation and said they received 20 complaints about Spacey for inappropriate behavior during his service there. All of the allegations were made by men. Some complainants did go public.
Mr. Spacey has repeatedly been accused publicly of sexual assault. In 2017, American actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey made a move on him when he was 14-years-old.
In Massachusetts in 2019, a groping case, regarding an 18-year-old in Nantucket, was dropped because the witness accuser invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify.
Last year it was widely reported that Spacey breached his contract with the “House of Cards” production studio, MRC, and was ordered to pay $31 million to the company, due to the company’s sexual harassment policy. The studio fired Spacey due to allegations against the actor.