Kevin Spacey is a “sexual bully” who preys on men and doesn’t “respect personal boundaries,” a British prosecutor said Friday morning at the start of the actor’s sexual assault trial in London.
The Oscar- and Tony-winning actor is charged with 12 offenses against four men, who are now in their 30s and 40s. The allegations date from 2001 to 2013, when Spacey was the artistic director of London’s prestigious Old Vic theater.
Spacey has pleaded not guilty to all charges, which include sexual assault, indecent assault and causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
During her opening statement, prosecutor Christine Agnew described the once-celebrated actor as “a man who does not respect personal boundaries or space, a man who it would seem delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable — a sexual bully.”
“He is an extremely famous actor who has won a number of awards” and who also “sexually assaults other men,” she said.
Jurors also heard that Spacey’s “preferred method of assault is, it appears, to grab aggressively other men in the crotch.” On one occasion, she said, Mr. Spacey had gone further and performed oral sex on a man while he was asleep.
Spacey’s defense lawyer, Patrick Gibbs, suggested the alleged victims might have had other reasons to accuse the gay actor, who didn’t publicly come out until age 58. Gibbs told the jurors to ask themselves “what has been made up or twisted, and why and when, because all of these allegations happened a long time ago.”
The trial is expected to last four weeks. The former House of Cards star could be imprisoned for a long time if convicted. The most serious charge he faces — engaging in penetrative sexual activity without consent — carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
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