Hollywood star Kevin Spacey must face lawsuit over 14-year-old boy ‘sexual assault’, US judge rules

Spacey leaves court after testifying in a New York civil lawsuit
AP

Hollywood star Kevin Spacey must face a civil lawsuit alleging that he made an unwanted sexual advance on a 14-year-old boy, a judge has ruled.

Anthony Rapp claims the actor grabbed him by the buttocks and lifted him on to a bed in a bid to “seduce” him after a party at Spacey’s Manhattan apartment in 1986.

The former House of Cards star, 62, says he “categorically” denies the allegation and sought to have the case thrown out.

But in a ruling on Monday, Federal district judge Lewis Kaplan concluded the case could proceed as there is a genuine factual dispute over what happened.

The decision is the latest blow for Spacey, who was first publicly accused of misconduct in 2017 and now faces a string of criminal sexual assault charges in the UK.

Mr Rapp, one of the original cast of Broadway show Rent, says he got to know Spacey on the New York theatre circuit, and was invited to a social gathering at the actor’s home.

He claims he was left alone with Spacey, an Oscar and Tony winner, at the end of the evening before he picked him up, lay him on a bed, and “pressed his groin” into him.

Mr Rapp, now 50, and a star of Star Trek: Discovery, brought a civil lawsuit in September 2020 using the Child Victims Act, a New York law giving accusers a since-expired window to sue over alleged abuses from decades earlier.

Spacey’s legal team unsuccessfuly argued the incident was not serious enough to invoke the Act, although Judge Kaplan – who oversaw parts of Prince Andrew’s sexual assault lawsuit – did dismiss an assault claim by Mr Rapp as being brought too late.

In court filings, Spacey says the allegation is “false and never occurred”.

In the British criminal case, Spacey – the artistic director at the Old Vic theatre for 11 years – is accused of four counts of sexual assault against three men and a charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

The Crown Prosecution Service said allegations in London date back to 2005 and 2008 and Spacey is also accused of an alleged incident in 2013 in Gloucestershire.

Spacey, who was dropped as a Netflix star when allegations first came to light, has publicly vowed to fly to the UK to face the charges, but no date has yet been set for his first court appearance.

In a statement, he said: “I very much appreciate the Crown Prosecution Service’s statement in which they carefully reminded the media and the public that I am entitled to a fair trial, and innocent until proven otherwise.

“While I am disappointed with their decision to move forward, I will voluntarily appear in the UK as soon as can be arranged and defend myself against these charges, which I am confident will prove my innocence.”

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