Kevin Spacey has been charged with four counts of sexual assault against three men, the Crown Prosecution Service of the U.K. announced.
Rosemary Ainslie, the head of the CPS special crime division, said the CPS had authorized the criminal charges.
“He has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent,” Ainslie said.
The charges were laid following a one-year CPS review of Spacey’s case, after Metropolitan Police investigated and gathered evidence. Spacey, 62, was questioned by British police in 2019.
The alleged incidents took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in western England in April 2013. The alleged victims are now in their 30s and 40s.
“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.”
Spacey, a double Academy Award winner, was questioned by British police in 2019 about claims by several men that he had assaulted them. The former House of Cards star ran London’s Old Vic Theatre between 2004 and 2015.
His celebrated career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused the star of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s, when Rapp was a teenager. Spacey denies the allegations.
Last month, Spacey asked a New York judge to dismiss a sexual assault lawsuit launched against him by fellow actor Anthony Rapp, who was 14 at the time of the alleged abuse.
The U.K. charges were announced Thursday as Spacey was testifying in a courtroom in New York City in the civil lawsuit filed by Rapp. Spacey didn’t respond to reporters as he left the courthouse talking on his mobile phone.
Spacey’s lawyers appeared to be aware of the U.K. criminal case — they mentioned it briefly in court — but also didn’t comment on the new U.K. charges as they left the building.
Another criminal case brought against Spacey, an indecent assault and battery charge stemming from the alleged groping of an 18-year-old man at a Nantucket resort, was dismissed by Massachusetts prosecutors in 2019.
— With files from The Associated Press
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If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.