Accused of sexual assault, Kevin Spacey released by British justice

Europe 1 with AFP 2:33 p.m., June 16, 2022, modified at 2:34 p.m., June 16, 2022

American actor Kevin Spacey has been freed until a next hearing in July, after appearing in a British court on Thursday on charges of sexually assaulting three men.

Determined to vindicate his innocence, the 'House of Cards' star, whose career has been cut short by a series of accusations since the Weinstein case, appeared calm and confident at Westminster Magistrates Court.

At the start of the hearing, the actor, in a blue suit, gave his identity, date of birth and address, then the charges against him were read to him.

Prosecuted for four sexual assaults on three men

The judge decided to leave him free until a next hearing, on July 14, which will take place at the Southwark court in London.

The prosecutor said the actor had "cooperated fully" with the investigation but asked that he be released on parole with an obligation to remain in London.

His lawyer, Patrick Gibbs, had argued that the actor wanted to "go on with his life" and that "all his business is in the United States", where he has "a nine-year-old dog".

This brief hearing, devoted to procedural questions, launches what promises to be a long legal battle.

The 62-year-old actor is charged with four sexual assaults on three men, whose names have not been made public, between March 2005 and April 2013. He is also accused of forcing one of them to penetrative sexual activity without her consent, a charge that is distinct from rape (which involves penetration with a penis) in English law.

Kevin Spacey had been formally charged on Monday, after the green light given at the end of May by the British prosecution to these prosecutions.

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In the wake of the Weinstein affair

The actor then said he was "disappointed" but announced his intention to appear before the British courts to "prove his innocence".

Two charges relate to acts of sexual assault in March 2005 in London on the same complainant, now in his forties.

Another sexual assault involves a second complainant in his thirties, in August 2008, who also accuses him of forcing him into penetrative sexual activity without his consent.

Finally, another sexual assault allegedly targeted a third complainant, also in his thirties, in April 2013 in Gloucestershire (South West England).

These accusations against Kevin Spacey, following others in the United States, had been formulated in the wake of the Weinstein scandal, named after the American film producer targeted by numerous accusations of harassment and sexual assault, revealed in the fall 2017 by The New York Times and The New Yorker.

They had serious consequences on the career and reputation of the actor who won two Oscars for “American Beauty” and “Usual Suspects”.

Evolving on the boards before being devoted to the cinema, he had been landed by Netflix from the hit series "House of Cards" where he played the main character.

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Charges in the United States and the United Kingdom

Scotland Yard had opened an investigation after receiving complaints of sexual assault against the actor, some of which were allegedly committed in the Lambeth district of London, where the Old Vic theater is located, of which he was artistic director between 2004 and 2015. In his country, Kevin Spacey had been charged with indecent assault and sexual assault in the state of Massachusetts, on the East Coast.

He was accused of having, in July 2016, got his hands on the sex of an 18-year-old young man employed in a bar, after having made him drink.

But the charges were dropped in July 2019.

In late May, he appeared before a New York judge for a procedural hearing in a civil suit brought by actor Anthony Rapp, who accused him of making sexual advances to her when he was teenager.

Kevin Spacey had denied and the action was dropped in criminal proceedings.