UK Court Authorizes Criminal Charges For Sexual Assault Against Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey has been formally charged with four counts of sexual assault in the United Kingdom which were reportedly carried out against three men between the years 2005 and 2013. Spacey was first accused of misconduct in 2017 by the actor Anthony Rapp, who said Spacey made advances on him when he was just 14 years old.

The charges are sexual assault, and as Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime division clarified, one count of “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.” The news release detailing the charges also mentioned that of the three complainants, one is currently “in his 40s” while the other two are in their 30s. The earliest incident was in March 2005 when Spacey was 45, so these men could have been half his age or younger at the time even if their specific ages aren’t known.

In the slew of allegations that came after Rapp’s statements, which included crew on his series House of Cards and several high-profile individuals like the filmmaker Tony Montana.

According to a police report, the Old Vic conducted an independent investigation into allegations against Spacey by theatre staff and actors and said they weren’t able to verify any. This didn’t stop some from speaking out, including the actor Roberto Cavazos. He said several encounters he had with Spacey at the Old Vic “were close to being called harassment,” and also mentioned, “It seems that it only took a male under 30 to make Mr. Spacey feel free to touch us.”

While the charges against him have been authorized, Spacey will not be formally charged until he enters England or Wales. It has not been established whether English authorities will attempt extradition for Spacey, but it is likely based on prior cases that he will have a window to appear for the charges voluntarily before extradition is considered.

The actor faced a significant amount of career blowback when the allegations first surfaced, including being fired from several projects including his role in House of Cards. He has slowly been making his way back into films, though, and even has a thriller where he plays a stalker villain, Peter Five Eight, that is currently being shopped at Cannes as these new charges were announced.

While a few lawsuits and assault charges against Spacey for sexual assault have been dropped for various reasons, he now has these charges to answer for in the UK as well as an ongoing lawsuit filed by Rapp focused on his accusations that were first revealed in 2017.