US actor Kevin Spacey called ‘sexual bully’ by prosecutor in UK trial

LONDON - Kevin Spacey is “a sexual bully” who “delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable,” a prosecutor told a British jury on Friday.

Speaking at Southwark Crown Court, the prosecutor, Christine Agnew, outlined her case against the Academy Award-winning actor, who is on trial in London facing multiple charges of sexual assault.

Ms Agnew said the actor’s “preferred method” of assault was to “aggressively grab other men in the crotch.” On one occasion, she said, Spacey had gone further and performed oral sex on a man while he was asleep.

The actor “abused the power and influence that his reputation and fame afforded him” to take “who he wanted, when he wanted,” Ms Agnew said.

Spacey has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The actor, 63, faces 12 charges related to incidents that the prosecution says involved four men and occurred between 2001 and 2013. For much of that period, Spacey was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London.

Ms Agnew said the complainants included an aspiring actor and a man whom Spacey had met at a work event. Under British law, it is illegal to identify complainants in sexual assault cases or to publish information that may cause them to be identified.

Mr Patrick Gibbs, Spacey’s legal representative, gave a short statement stressing his client’s innocence. He said the jury would hear some half-truths, some “deliberate exaggerations” and “many damned lies.”

He asked the jury to consider the complainants’ motivations, and to think about whether the encounters could have been “reasonably believed to be consensual at the time.”

Ms Agnew’s statement outlined each of the complainants’ specific accusations. She said three accusers told police that Spacey had grabbed their crotches, and one said Spacey had repeatedly placed the man’s hands onto his own crotch.

On one occasion, Ms Agnew said, one of the men told Spacey never to grab him again. Spacey’s response was to laugh and then remark that the complainant’s anger “turned him on,” Ms Agnew said.

The jury would also hear, Ms Agnew said, from a man who says he went for a drink at Spacey’s apartment, where he fell asleep. A few hours later, the man woke to discover Spacey on his knees, performing oral sex on him, Ms Agnew said. The man said he pushed Spacey away, and then the actor asked him to leave, Ms Agnew added.

She also discussed interviews that Spacey had given to British police under caution. During one of those, she said, Spacey said that it was “entirely possible and indeed likely” that he had made “a clumsy pass” at other men but that he would never have touched someone’s crotch “without an indication of consent.”

Throughout Ms Agnew’s almost 60-minute opening statement, Spacey, in a light grey suit, white shirt and gold tie, sat in a large transparent box in the middle of the courtroom, watching intently. On several occasions, he looked at photographs in an evidence bundle. When Mr Gibbs spoke, Spacey nodded and looked at the jury.

Friday morning’s session ended shortly after Mr Gibbs’ comments. The prosecution is scheduled to call its first witnesses Monday. NYTIMES