British prosecutor calls Kevin Spacey ‘a sexual bully’ who preys on other men
LONDON — In her opening statement in Kevin Spacey’s trial on sexual assault charges, a prosecutor said Friday that the Oscar-winning actor was a “sexual bully” who got a thrill from preying on other men.
Spacey is “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,” prosecutor Christine Agnew said. “His preferred method of assault is, it appears, to grab aggressively other men in the crotch.”
The four men who have accused Spacey of sexual assault did not know each other, but all “had the misfortune to attract” his attention, she said.
Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges, including sexual assault, indecent assault and causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
Defense attorney Patrick Gibbs said Spacey denied all allegations of nonconsensual activity, and told jurors to ask themselves as they listened to the evidence what — if anything — had happened.
“What has been reimagined with a sinister spin?” Gibbs said. “What has been made up or twisted?”
British prosecutors say the new charges against the actor stem from alleged offenses against one man in incidents that occurred between 2001 and 2004.
He said jurors would hear truths, half-truths, deliberate exaggerations and lies.
The charges involve men now in their 30s or 40s and date from 2001 to 2013. That covers most of the decade when Spacey lived in Britain and served as artistic director of the Old Vic theater until 2015.
The charges include seven counts for alleged acts against one man and five counts involving three others. Several of the charges involve multiple occasions when he was alleged to have indecently or sexually assaulted the person.
The charges allege that the acts were not consensual and that Spacey did not “reasonably believe” the men had consented.
The civil lawsuit against actor Kevin Spacey that involved a massage therapist accusing him of groping has been dismissed months after the anonymous man died.
The actor arrived at court by taxi more than two hours early. He wore spectacles and was dressed in a light gray suit, white shirt and gold tie. Spacey entered the courtroom with a large binder of documents under his arm. After he sat down behind his lawyer, he pulled a pair of reading glasses from his shirt pocket and began leafing through the pages.
When the judge took the bench, Spacey moved into the dock, where he sat behind a window in the middle of the packed courtroom. A guard sat in the corner of the room.
The actor is identified in court by his full name, Kevin Spacey Fowler.
A jury of nine men and five women, including two alternates, will decide his fate during the four-week trial in Southwark Crown Court.
Spacey remains free on bail. He has homes in London and the U.S.
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