Kevin Spacey has pleaded “not guilty” to five counts of sexual assault and rape of three men in his first appearance before the British national criminal court, better known by the name of the street where it is located, the Old Bailey. The award-winning actor, 62, has firmly repeated his declaration of innocence regarding each accusation in a brief court hearing, presided over this Thursday by Judge Mark Wall, in room number one of the historic City of London building. The judge has agreed to proceed with the trial on June 6, 2023 and revalidated the precautionary freedom, without conditions, that the American defendant has enjoyed since his voluntary return to the United Kingdom.
Kevin Spacey Fowler, according to the proceedings, is accused of sexually assaulting three men and inducing one of them to engage in “penetrative sexual activity.” The events would have happened on four different dates (March 2005, August 2008 and April 2013) and in different scenarios, according to the statement of charges published by the British Prosecutor’s Office. The sexual assaults would have been perpetrated in London, while the alleged rape would have occurred in an undisclosed location in the west of England.
The actor was working in London in the years in question. He ran the Old Vid theater for a decade until 2015, and the following year he was honored with a knighthood of the British Empire for his services to international theatre, arts and culture. Shortly after, in the ‘MeToo’ wave, allegations emerged in the United States of alleged inappropriate behavior by Spacey with young actors. In London, the Old Vic received more than twenty complaints of sexual and workplace harassment from theater staff and three individuals filed complaints with the Police.
At the initial hearing, at the Westminster court last June, the defense indicated that the famous actor “categorically denies” the accusations. The lawyer highlighted the willingness that his client has shown to collaborate with the authorities since Scotland Yard reopened the investigation into the alleged crimes committed in England. The Prosecutor’s Office noted, in turn, that the review of police evidence led to its decision to file charges against the now humiliated professional.
Spacey will remain under the cloud of suspicion of being a sexual pervert until the outcome of the trial in London. In the United States he has settled most of the complaints with out-of-court agreements, although he has a civil complaint pending in a federal court in New York. This case has been brought by his first accuser, actor Anthony Rapp, who has maintained since 2017 that Spacey wanted to take sexual advantage of him when he was a minor. The three alleged victims in the British case are believed to have been between 20 and 30 years old when they met the then manager of the Old Vic.
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