The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Hollywood sex crimes task force has announced today that they’ll not be charging Kevin Spacey, Steven Seagal or Anthony Anderson with sexual assault. Working in the actors’ favor was that the statute of limitations had expired in many of the accusations, which dated back to the mid-1990s. In addition, the DA was having trouble convincing the accusers to co-operate with police and testify at trial.
While black(ish) star Anderson might be able to breathe a sigh of relief, Spacey and Seagal aren’t out of the woods just yet. Both men are still facing investigation by the task force for separate alleged cases of sexual assault that are currently being reviewed to see if they’ll stand up in court.
The particular allegation against Spacey that will not be pursued related to an adult man who accused the actor of sexually assaulting him in West Hollywood in October of 1992. As the individual was an adult at the time, the statute of limitations has expired on the case and it cannot be taken before a jury.
The allegation against Seagal, meanwhile, relates to an accusation of rape made by an extra on the 1994 film On Deadly Ground, which won’t be pursued for the same reasons as the Spacey case.
Anderson’s accusation, on the other hand, dates from as recent as early 2018, but given that “the reporting party declined to be interviewed by the investigating officer,” it cannot be proven in court. The task force’s statement concluded that “prosecution is declined due to lack of sufficient evidence to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the allegations.”
Notable by his absence from the DA’s press statement was Harvey Weinstein. That’s likely because multiple accusations from many women are still being pursued by prosecutors up and down the country, so it might be a while before we hear of any concerted effort to file criminal charges against the former producer.
Time will tell whether any of these men see the inside of a prison cell, but as always, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
