Kevin Spacey charged in U.K. with sexual assault against 3 men

Actor Kevin Spacey was charged in the U.K. with four counts of sexual assault with three men on Thursday, according to British authorities.

The 62-year-old Hollywood veteran was also charged with one count of “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent” related to one alleged incident in Aug. 2008, said the Crown Prosecution Service.

The other charges stem from two other incidents in Mar. 2005 and Apr. 2013. The CPS said the three men are now in their 30s and 40s in a statement Thursday.

Spacey was the artistic director of London’s The Old Vic theater from 2003 to 2015, reports The Hollywood Reporter. A investigation by the theater in Nov. 2017 uncovered 20 testimonies of “alleged sexual misbehavior” relating to Spacey.

The investigation followed accusations by Anthony Rapp, an actor who said Spacey made sexual advances on him when he was 14. Spacey was in Manhattan federal court Thursday morning for Rapp’s civil lawsuit against him when news of the U.K. charges were announced, reports the New York Post.

Sexual assault carries a maximum 10-year sentence on indictment in the U.K., while causing penetrative sexual activity without consent carries a max sentence of life in prison.

The CPS cannot formally apply the charges against Spacey unless he enters England or Wales. It is unclear whether the actor can be extradited from the U.S.

Spacey won two Oscars for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Usual Suspects (1995) and Best Actor for American Beauty (1999). He was most recently famous playing Frank Underwood, an amoral politician, in the Netflix series House of Cards.