LONDON (Reuters) – Actor Kevin Spacey is on trial at a London court accused of a dozen historical sex offence charges with prosecutors saying he behaved like a “sexual bully”.
Here are some details about the case and the trial.
WHO IS KEVIN SPACEY?
Spacey, 63, has appeared in numerous Hollywood movies and won Oscars for best actor in “American Beauty” (1999) and best supporting actor in “The Usual Suspects” (1995).
More recently he starred in the TV drama series “House of Cards”. He was also artistic director at London’s Old Vic theatre from 2004 to 2015.
WHAT ARE THE CHARGES AGAINST HIM?
The charges include repeated incidents of indecent and sexual assaults against four men and a more serious offence of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent in relation to one of the accusers.
The offences allegedly took place between 2001 and 2013 at a time he was living in Britain and working at the Old Vic.
Prosecutor Christine Agnew told the trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court that Spacey was a “sexual bully” who had assaulted the four men, who cannot be named, for his own sexual gratification.
WHAT ARE THE ALLEGATIONS?
The first man was a driver, aged in his early 30s at the time of the offences, who said the “touchy feely” actor would grab and grope him in an aggressive way.
He accused Spacey of trying to “groom” him, telling the court the film star had forced his hand onto the actor’s genitalia on numerous occasions, and had grabbed his “private areas” when they were alone, such as in a car or an elevator.
On one final incident, Spacey grabbed the man’s penis so hard while he was driving that he almost came off the road, he said. The accuser recounted that he had threatened to knock the actor out if he did it again, to which Spacey had replied “that’s such a turn on to me”.
The second complainant said he met Spacey while working in a pub near Oxford in central England, aged 23. He said he and a group of friends had joined the actor at another pub where they had several rounds of drinks with the actor who they had referred to as “K-dog”.
The man and one of his friends then later went to the house where Spacey was staying with a group of about 12-15 people.
While there, he found himself alone with Spacey who gave him an “awkward” hug, before kissing his neck and saying “be cool, be cool”, he said in a police interview shown to the court. The actor then grabbed the man’s crotch who responded by pushing him against a wall, before leaving in a panic.
The third accuser said Spacey had touched him at a charity event at a London theatre when he was 28. The actor had arrived smelling of alcohol and looking dishevelled, the man said, before subjecting him to a tirade of lewd remarks.
“It was horrific. I have never had anyone speak to me that way,” the man told the court. He said he was showing Spacey – who he described as “standoffish” and “rude” – around backstage when the actor spun him round and painfully grabbed his crotch like “a cobra”.
The most serious accusation against Spacey was made by the fourth complainant, an aspiring actor. He said he was in his early 20s when he wrote to Spacey asking for assistance with his career.
A few weeks later he says he met Spacey for a drink and later the Hollywood star invited him back to his apartment. The man, who called Spacey a “vile sexual predator”, said the actor sexually assaulted him and then performed oral sex on him while he was passed out.
The accuser told the court that he believed Spacey might have drugged him. He said he told Spacey to stop, after which the actor told him to leave and not tell anyone what had happened.
WHAT DOES SPACEY SAY?
Spacey has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. In police interviews he said he had no recollection of performing oral sex on anyone without consent and denied grabbing a man at the theatre.
He said while it was entirely possible and indeed he might have made a clumsy pass at someone in the past, he had never grabbed anyone’s crotch, nor behaved in such a manner without an indication of consent.
His lawyer Patrick Green has told the jury they would hear some truths, some half-truths, some exaggerations and “some many damned lies”.
In his cross-examination of the accusers, Gibbs has suggested some of the men had engaged in consensual acts with the actor while he put it to the man who alleged Spacey had assaulted him in a theatre that “quite a lot of things you told the police that are completely untrue”.
Gibbs also suggested that, given Spacey’s wealth and fame, the accusations were motivated by financial reasons.
One of the accusers – the man who met Spacey in the pub – had sent an email to the actor last year in which he wrote “Let’s get in touch, willing to remove self from the court case for settlement despite wrongdoing”, Gibbs said.
The accuser said he did not recall the message but said he had suffered from periods of depression and the message appeared to be his attempt to get away from the stress of the case.
The complainant who alleged Spacey had performed oral sex on him has brought a civil lawsuit seeking around 400,000 pounds (about $510,000) in damages. Gibbs suggested the complainant had consensual sex with Spacey to further his career.
Spacey is expected to start giving evidence himself on Thursday.
WHAT SENTENCE DO THE CHARGES CARRY?
If found guilty, Spacey could face time in jail. The most serious charge faced by Spacey, of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent, carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
WHEN WILL THE VERDICT BE GIVEN?
The trial is expected to last about four weeks so a verdict is likely towards the end of the month.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
