LONDON (AP) – Kevin Spacey has arrived at the Central Criminal Court in London, where he is due to file a statement of sexual assault on three men a decade and a half ago.
Spacey, 62, arrived in court, known as the Old Bailey, more than an hour before Thursday’s hearing began.
The hearing is the first opportunity for the two-time Oscar winner to formally answer five charges related to crimes against three men. His lawyer previously said Spacey “vigorously denies” the allegations.
Spacey was released on bail and allowed to return to the United States after a preliminary hearing last month. A judge is expected to set a deadline for his trial Thursday.
The former “House of Cards” star, who directed London’s Old Vic Theater between 2004 and 2015, is charged with four counts of sexual assault and one of causing a person to engage in penetrating sexual activity without consent.
The incidents allegedly took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in the west of England in April 2013. The victims are now between 30 and 40 years old.
Spacey won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” and an Oscar for Lead Actor for the 1999 film “American Beauty.”
But his celebrated career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused the star of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s, when Rapp was a teenager. Spacey denies the allegations.
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