Fantastic Beasts Actor Kevin Guthrie Jailed For Sexual Assault

Scottish actor Kevin Guthrie has been sentenced to three years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in Glasgow, Scotland. Aside from featuring in a minor role in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, Guthrie is best known for playing Mr. Abernathy in the Fantastic Beasts films.

The incident in question took place in 2017, with a jury finding the 33-year-old performer guilty following a four-day trial. As per Deadline, a 29-year-old woman was headed to a bar to meet with Guthrie and fellow actor Scott Reid before she appeared to fall ill on the ride over. Her cab driver instead took her to Reid’s flat where she was escorted inside before Reid went to phone the NHS hotline for assistance. Guthrie remained behind to watch over her, and the woman accuses him of removing her top as well as performing several sexual acts on her, including kissing her on the mouth. His attacks are said to have ceased once Reid re-entered the room.

Guthrie continues to deny the allegations, claiming he was only helping the woman after she fell ill. However, it’s been reported that the jury was told the actor’s DNA was found inside of her underwear. In addition to his jail time, Guthrie has also been placed on the sex offenders registry.

The actor appeared in both 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, where he played Mr. Abernathy, supervisor to Tina and Queenie Goldstein at the MACUSA (the Magical Congress of the USA). In the second film, it was revealed that Abernathy was really a turncoat who was loyal to Johnny Depp’s Grindelwald, helping him escape MACUSA custody and going on to join the dark wizard’s ranks.

IMDb lists Guthrie as reprising his role in Fantastic Beasts 3 but when Deadline reached out to Warner Bros. for comment, the studio denied that he ever filmed any material for the threequel. Guthrie’s reps have also declined to comment on his sentencing.