Jury Clears Kevin Spacey Of Sex-Abuse Charge Dating From 1980s

A jury found that actor Kevin Spacey did not sexually abuse Anthony Rapp, then 14, while both were unknown actors in Broadway plays in 1986. Jurors in a New York City federal court deliberated for a little more than an hour before deciding that Rapp hadn’t proved his allegations. “We’re very grateful to the jury for seeing through these false allegations,” said his attorney, Jennifer Keller. “What’s next is Mr. Spacey is going to be proven that he’s innocent of anything he’s been accused of. That there was no truth to any of the allegations,” she added, a reference to other sexual misconduct claims against the actor, including criminal charges in England, the Associated Press reports. Rapp testified that Spacey had invited him to his apartment for a party, then approached him in a bedroom after the other guests left. He said the actor, then 26, picked him up and laid partially on top of him on a bed and then fled as an inebriated Spacey asked if he was sure he wanted to leave. In sometimes-tearful testimony, Spacey told the jury it never happened, and he would never have been attracted to someone who was 14. The lawsuit sought $40 million in damages. Rapp’s lawyer, Richard Steigman, accused Spacey of lying on the witness stand. “He lacks credibility,” Steigman said. “Sometimes the simple truth is the best. The simple truth is that this happened.” Rapp, 50, and Spacey, 63, each testified over several days at the three-week trial. Spacey faced charges in Massachusetts that he groped a man at a bar, a case later dropped by prosecutors.