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Hollywood star Kevin Spacey has been accused charged with four counts of sexual assault against three men, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Thursday.
The 62-year-old Oscar-winning Hollywood actor, behind well-known movies, for example,’ Usual Suspects’ and ‘American Beauty’ and the political drama ‘House of Cards’, has also served as artistic director of London’s Old Vic theatre from 2004 to 2015.
“The CPS has authorised criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men,” said Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division.
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She said, “He has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The charges follow a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation.”
She added, “The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against Mr Spacey are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”
The CPS said it is extremely important there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
The charges date back to March 2005 in London against a man now in his 40s and two others dated August 2008 against a man now in his 30s. A charge dated April 2013 connects with sexual assault in Gloucestershire, south-west England, against a man now in his 30s.
The charges announced for the current week follow an investigation launched by Scotland Yard back in 2017.
“The CPS’ charging decision follows a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police Service in its investigation,” the Met Police said.
The CPS highlighted that it isn’t for the prosecution service to conclude whether an individual is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make “fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider”.
It noticed that the CPS assessment of any case isn’t in no sense a finding of, or implication of, any guilt or criminal lead. It’s anything but a finding of truth, which must be made by a court, yet rather an assessment of what it very well may be possible to prove to a court, as per the Code for Crown Prosecutors, the CPS said.
The actor, whose full name is Kevin Spacey Fowler, has previously denied claims against him.
