The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has charged actor Kevin Spacey with four counts of sexual assault involving three male victims, Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS special crime division, said.
“He has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent,” Ainslie said. “The charges follow a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan police in its investigation.”
Related: Anthony Rapp: ‘I was trying to protect people’ with the Kevin Spacey allegations
“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against Mr. Spacey are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”
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The charges are related to alleged attacks that occurred in London in 2005 and 2008 and Gloucestershire, England in 2013.
Prior to the allegations against Spacey, he was known as an Academy Award-winning actor who appeared in The Usual Suspects (1995), L.A. Confidential (1997), American Beauty (1999), and Recount (2008).
He starred in House of Cards, which was Netflix’s first original programming in television, for five seasons. He also was the Artistic Director of London’s renowned Old Vic Theatre for years.
Then in October 2017, several men alleged that Spacey had sexually harassed or assaulted them as children or teens, offenses that allegedly took place as far back as the 1980s. Out award-winning actor Anthony Rapp was one of the first accusers.
In denying the allegations, Spacey ended up coming out publicly for the first time.
Old Vic’s inquiry into Spacey found 20 more allegations of abuse or misconduct, and criminal or civil proceedings against the actor began taking place in various jurisdictions. Even a member of the Norwegian royal house accused Spacey of touching him inappropriately without consent.
Among all of these allegations were also those from House of Cards employees, eight of whom accused Spacey of sexual harassment and one of whom accused him of sexual assault. Spacey ended up being ordered to pay almost $31 million to the production company that made House of Cards, mostly in damages for getting fired as well as legal fees.
