Kevin Spacey has been charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of "causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent."
The decision came today (May 26) by the U.K's prosecution agency Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The agency has spent over a year reviewing a file given them to by the Metropolitan Police.
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"The CPS has authorized criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men," said Rosemary Ainslie. Ainslie is the head of the CPS Special Crime Division. "He has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The charges follow a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation. 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."
Some of the charges are assumed to be from Spacey's work at the Old Vic theater in London, where he served as artistic director from 2004-2015. After a slew of sexual assault allegations in the U.S, the theater undertook an internal investigation which, per BBC, resulted in 20 victims coming forward.
Today's charges are the latest in a series of both civil and criminal legal battles that Spacey has been fighting since being publicly exposed in 2017 by "Rent" and "Star Trek: Discovery" actor Anthony Rapp. Rapp mentioned that he was 14 when Spacey made a non-consensual sexual advance toward him at a party.
Spacey was attempting to return to the film screen, but will likely not return.
[Via]