Jury finds Kevin Spacey not liable in sexual assault case

A New York court has dismissed the sexual assault lawsuit against Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey.

On Thursday, the jury concluded that Spacey did not molest younger actor Anthony Rapp at a party in 1986 when the latter was 14 years old.

Rapp testified that a 26-year-old Spacey had climbed on top of him on a bed and pressed his groin into Rapp's hip. Spacey denied the allegations and said he had never been alone with Rapp.

Spacey will still face a separate criminal trial in London next year after pleading not guilty to five sex offense charges over incidents that allegedly occurred between 2005 and 2013.

$40 million case dismissed

Rapp was seeking $40 million (€41 million) in damages for emotional anguish caused by the alleged incident that lasted "no longer than two minutes.

Earlier this month, Rapp told the court he "felt frozen" during the alleged incident until he managed to "wiggle his way" out.

He said there had been "no kissing, no undressing, no reaching under clothes, and no sexualized statements or innuendo."

Spacey's lawyer distances him from #MeToo

Shortly after Rapp's public allegations in 2017, Spacey publicly came out as gay, leading to accusations that he was "trying to change the subject, or trying to deflect."

While being cross-examined in New York, Spacey said his father was a "white supremacist" and a "neo-Nazi" who disliked gay people and did not appreciate his son's interest in theater.

Spacey's lawyer, Jennifer Keller, proposed several theories, including that Rapp made the allegations out of jealousy of Spacey's career.

"This isn't a team sport where you’re either on the #MeToo side or the other side," Keller told the jury. 

zc/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters)