Kevin Spacey found not guilty of all charges in UK sexual assault trial

Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey was declared not guilty by a jury in the UK in a sexual assault trial case. Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual assault by four men who alleged the incidents took place between 2001 and 2013.

The jury at Southwark Crown Court in south London reached majority decisions on the nine counts, which included sexual assault, after more than 12 hours of deliberations. The decision was made after four weeks of trial.

The Academy Award-winning actor had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

All four of the alleged victims — who can't be named under UK law — testified during the trial, as did Spacey himself. In their testimony, the four men described Spacey a "sexual bully" and a predator.

Spacey starred in the Netflix series House of Cards until he was fired in 2017 after fellow actor Anthony Rapp accused him of sexual misconduct.

During the trial, the prosecution alleged that Spacey had gotten around his predatory behaviour due to his celebrity status.The prosecution claimed Spacey had a 'trinity of protection' and chose meticulously the men he would attack. Spacey knew they were likely to never report the incidents and even if they did, no one would believe them. Yet if someone did believe them, Spacey thought authorities wouldn't act because of his celebrity status.

Musician Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish had testified online for Spacey and confirmed thatthe star only attended one of the musician's annual gala parties in 2001. One of Spacey's alleged victims had claimed the actor assaulted him while the two were driving to John's White Tie & Tiara Ball in 2004 or 2005.

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Spacey, while testifying during the trial, had said the relationship with one of the four victims was consensual. Just two weeks after the case was started in London Court, Kevin took the stand to defend himself and prove that he was innocent. The actor haddenied having non-consensual sex.

Kevin also said that he could not believe that one of the complainants would stab him in the back,''never thought that (the man) Iknew would … 20 years later stab me in the back," he said.