Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey acquitted in sexual assault case: what's known about the high-profile trial

In London at the Royal Courts of Justice in the district of Southerk, a jury acquitted Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey. The star was acquitted of nine counts of sexual assault, solicitation of sexual acts without consent and solicitation of sexual intercourse with penetration.

The trial took place on Wednesday, July 26, reports BBC. The Oscars winner after the jury's decision could not hold back tears - he did not plead guilty to any of the charges.

The last session was held just on the birthday of the actor, he turned 64 years old.

"I think many of you may realize that after what happened today, I have a lot to process. But I would like to say that I am extremely grateful to the judges for taking the time to scrutinize all the evidence and all the facts before making their decision. I am humbled by the current outcome," he said.

The court hearing concerned the pre-molestation of four men. The crimes, according to the complainants, were allegedly committed by Kevin Spacey in the UK between 2011 and 2013, when he worked as artistic director of The Old Vic theater.

The names of the complainants against the actor are unknown: under the law, they are entitled to lifelong anonymity.

One of the men said Spacey repeatedly grabbed his groin in the early 2000s, once while he was driving. A second claimed the actor grabbed him twice by the groin at a party in 2005 and also allegedly made sexually aggressive comments.

A third man claimed he ended up in Spacey's apartment where he passed out and woke up to the actor performing oral sex on him. A fourth man claimed Spacey kissed him on the neck at his residence, grabbed his penis and said "be cool, be cool."

The actor denied almost all of the allegations, but admitted that he had an intimate relationship with one of the complainants, but it was a consensual relationship. Spacey said he doesn't consider intimate touching a crime.

"Yes, I like to flirt. It didn't involve any violence, aggression or pain. It was gentle and, in my opinion, romantic. But it didn't go further than flirting as he made it clear that he didn't want it," the actor said.

One of the first Kevin Spacey was accused by actor Anthony Rapp in 2017, claiming alleged harassment in 1986 when he was 14 years old. Spacey himself said he did not remember such an incident, but apologized and admitted that he was bisexual.

After that, law enforcement received several more allegations of misconduct by Spacey. Among the complainants were an anonymous person and a bartender. They said that when they were 17 and 18 years old, Spacey allegedly harassed them as well.

And because of the sex scandal, the actor was forced to pause his career. Because of this, he paid 31 million dollars to Netflix, because the series "House of Cards" was also put on pause, and this led to huge losses to the company.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, the former lawyer of the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani was accused of sexual harassment, as well as their continued, "alcohol-soaked conversations containing sexist, racist and anti-Semitic remarks". The 78-year-old lawyer was sued by businesswoman and PR expert Noelle Dunphy.

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