Kevin Spacey may have just dodged a $40 million sexual assault lawsuit after a judge’s ruling

A judge has ruled that a man who is suing Kevin Spacey for $40 million in federal court cannot proceed anonymously because he shared his sexual abuse allegations with other people over the years, per the Associated Press.

U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied the man’s request to proceed anonymously as “C.D.,” and ordered him to reveal his identity within 10 days.

In September, Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp and the man identified as C.D. filed a lawsuit against Spacey, accusing him of sexual assault.

C.D. claims that Spacey invited him to his apartment when he was 14 and had him perform sex acts on the actor. He also says Spacey attempted to rape him during their last encounter, at which point C.D. ran away from the apartment.

The lawsuit seeks more than $40 million in damages, according to The Associated Press.

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Kaplan ruled that C.D.’s privacy interest did not take precedence over keeping judicial proceedings open, and cited prejudice toward Spacey if C.D. were allowed to continue under a pseudonym, the AP reported.

Kaplan also wrote that C.D. has spoken to an unknown number of people regarding his allegations against Spacey since the 1990s, and apparently cooperated with Vulture for a magazine article that appeared online in November 2017, the AP said.

That considered, Kaplan concluded that “the evidence suggests that C.D. knowingly and repeatedly took the risk that any of these individuals at one point or another would reveal his true identity in a manner that would bring that identity to wide public attention.”

Kaplan also reportedly challenged C.D.’s lawyers’ claims that using their client’s name would trigger post traumatic stress disorder and the resulting anxiety, nightmares and depression that come with the condition.

He wrote that these consequences likely cannot be averted as the case continues and C.D. is forced to testify publicly, the AP reported.