Kevin Spacey has been found not guilty by a London jury following his four-week sexual assault trial that began on June 28. The Oscar winner, 64, who was facing the possibility of a lifetime prison sentence, wept in the Southwark crown court on Wednesday, as the jurors cleared him of all nine sex offences against four men in their 20s and 30s, between 2001 and 2013. The judge also dropped 4 indecent assault charges, citing a “legal technicality.”
The “Usual Suspects” star pleaded not guilty to the charges, including one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent, one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, three counts of indecent assault, and seven of sexual assault, in July 2022. The accusations were made by four men who say they were molested by the Academy Award winner between 2001 and 2013, when Kevin served as the artistic director at London’s Old Vic theater.
Three accusers claimed Kevin groped them, and the fourth claimed he performed oral sex on him while he was unconscious, per Variety. However, the House of Cards alum remembered things differently. Kevin claimed to London’s Southwark Crown Court during the third week of his sexual assault trial that the oral sex was consensual and that he and the man had a “very nice and lovely evening.” However, after he went to the bathroom, Kevin remembered the man had left swiftly.
He also admitted to being “flirtatious”, but never going beyond anyone’s boundaries. Denying any wrongdoing, he added, “It’s madness because it never happened.”
Speaking more on the sexual relations that he had with at least one of his accusers, Kevin said he remembers making the first move. “He was funny and charming and flirtatious; over time we began … I’m assuming it was me … began to touch him in more romantic and intimate ways,” he explained, per CNN. He then expressed his sorrow that someone would accuse him of doing anything inappropriate years after that fact.
During the closing arguments, Kevin’s defense lawyer said three of the men have fabricated their accusations, while the fourth man is recounting a “clumsy pass” Kevin made years ago. The prosecutor painted the actor as a “sexual bully” who used his power to take advantage of men.
Two of the complainants in the case are reported to be pursuing Spacey in the civil courts following Wednesday’s verdict.
Spacey first faced allegations of sexual misconduct in 2017, when actor Anthony Rapp publicly made his claims. Rapp accused Spacey of assaulting him during a party in the 1980s. Nevertheless, Spacey was found not liable in the civil case brought against him by Rapp.