Kevin Spacey may have recently evaded sexual battery charges in New York, but the actor just got slammed with seven additional charges in Britain, where he’s already awaiting trial next summer.
Last month, Spacey was found not guilty of making unwanted sexual advances toward actor Anthony Rapp at a party in 1986, when Rapp was just 14 and Spacey was 26.
However, he was still facing four counts of sexual assault and one charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent by three different accusers from between 2005 and 2013, while he was serving as artistic director with the Old Vic Theater in London.
The latest charges were alleged to have occurred in the U.K. between 2001 and 2004, in which Spacey is accused of three incidents of indecent assault, three of sexual assault, and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. These seven new counts now bring the total number of charges up to 12.
“The CPS has authorised additional criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 63, for a number of sexual assaults against one man between 2001 and 2004,” Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Special Crime Division, said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The CPS has also authorised one charge of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. The authority to charge follows a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation. 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.”
Spacey pleaded not guilty to the initial five sexual assault charges before a judge in London’s Old Bailey courthouse back in July. Due to a backlog in the British judicial system, the 63-year-old’s three-to-four-week trial isn’t scheduled to start until June 6, 2023.
During a previous hearing, Spacey’s attorney Patrick Gibbs said that his client denied all the charges and was determined to “establish his innocence.” Spacey likewise denied all charges again him in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter back in May.
“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,” Spacey said at the time. “While I am disappointed with their decision to move forward, I will voluntarily appear in the U.K. as soon as can be arranged and defend myself against these charges, which I am confident will prove my innocence.”