Kevin Spacey to appear in court for molesting teen boy
Disgraced actor Kevin Spacey has pleaded not guilty in court on Monday (January 7) over a sexual assault charge.
Spacey has been charged with the alleged sexual assault of the then 18-year-old son of former Boston WCVB-TV news anchor Heather Unruh at a restaurant in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016.
Spacey was expected to plead not guilty over the indecent assault charge, according to Sky News.
He is accused of sticking his hands down the teenage waiter’s trousers and grabbing his genitals, reports Wall Street Journal.
Last week, a judge reportedly turned down Spacey’s request to skip appearing in person at the court hearing in Nantucket.
In court documents, quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Spacey has claimed that “my presence will amplify the negative publicity already generated in connection with this case.”
Spacey is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
Kevin Spacey enters not guilty plea after string of accusations
In October 2017, Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexual misconduct dating back to 1986, when Rapp was just 14.
He claimed Spacey invited him to a party at his New York apartment and, while drunk, tried to seduce him by climbing on top of him.
At the time, Spacey apologised to Rapp, saying he could not remember the incident.
Kevin Spacey criticised for coming out as gay in response to sexual misconduct claim
While addressing Rapp’s accusations in a statement, Spacey also came out as gay.
He was widely criticised by the LGBT+ community for coming out as gay in the same statement he used to address Rapp’s sexual misconduct claims.
Since Rapp came forward with his allegations, several other sexual misconduct allegations have emerged against Spacey.
In September, Spacey was accused of sexual assault by a masseur, according to papers recently filed to a court in Los Angeles.
London’s Old Vic Theatre, where Spacey held a tenure as artistic director between 2004 and 2015, said in November 2017 it received 20 allegations of inappropriate behaviour about the actor.
London’s Metropolitan Police has so far launched three investigations into alleged sexual assaults by the actor.
Kevin Spacey addressed allegations in Twitter video
Spacey recently came under fire for posting a bizarre comeback video on the same day it was reported that he has been charged with sexual assault.
Spacey posted the video on Twitter on December 24, making it the first time he had tweeted since addressing Rapp’s sexual misconduct allegations.
In the video, Spacey appears as his House of Cards character Frank Underwood, seemingly addressing the multiple sexual harassment and sexual assault claims made against him.
“Of course, some believed everything and have just been waiting with bated breath to hear me confess at all,” Spacey says in the video, which is titled “Let Me Be Frank.”
“They’re just dying to have me declare everything said is true and I got what I deserved. Wouldn’t that be easy?
“If it was all so simple. Only you and I both know it’s never that simple, not in politics, not in life.
“But you wouldn’t believe the worst without evidence would you? You wouldn’t rush to judgement without facts, would you? Did you? No, not you. You’re smarter than that.”
This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Kevin Spacey has pleaded not guilty in court.