Kevin Spacey in UK court on sexual assault charges
June 28, 2023
Oscar-award winning actor Kevin Spacey appeared in London's Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday on charges of sexually assaulting four men.
Spacey faces 12 charges including sexual assault, indecent assault, and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. The latter charge carries maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
Spacey has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Jurors who will decide Spacey's face were also sworn in.
Opening statements are scheduled to take place on Friday.
Historic allegations of sexual assault against Kevin Spacey
The offences are believed to have taken place between 2001 and 2013, and are alleged to have taken place during much of the decade he was living in the UK. Spacey worked as artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre until 2015.
British police first questioned him in 2019. The two-time Oscar winner has previously said that he would voluntarily appear in court to face the charges.
The 63-year-old actor said that if he is acquitted of the charges, he will look to revive his career.
"There are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London," Spacey told German weekly magazine Die Zeit, adding that the media have depicted him as a "monster."
Spacey won Oscars for best actor in "American Beauty" in 1999 and best-supporting actor in "The Usual Suspects" in 1995.
The 2017 allegations led to him being written off the Netflix political thriller "House of Cards," in which he played lead character Frank Underwood.
Spacey found 'not guilty' in US civil case
In October last year, a US jury found him not liable of sexual misconduct in a civil court.
Spacey had been accused of making unsolicited sexual advances against actor Anthony Rapp in 1986, when he was 14.
The jury found the plaintiff had been unable to prove his allegations against Spacey.
The allegations were made during the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017 were among those that upended Spacey's career.
The trial is scheduled to take place over the next four weeks.
kb/lo (Reuters, AP, AFP)