Kevin Spacey's UK sexual assault trial, explained

Disgraced actor Kevin Spacey is in a U.K. courtroom facing allegations of sexual assault. Will the case land him behind bars nearly six years after he was first hit with misconduct allegations? Or could a vindication in court lead to a career comeback, as he claims? 

What has Spacey been charged with? 

Spacey faces 12 charges and is alleged to have sexually assaulted four men between 2001 and 2013. The U.K.'s Crown Prosecution Service announced charges against Spacey, including four counts of sexual assault against three men and a charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent, in May 2022. In November, seven more charges were authorized. The alleged assaults largely took place while the actor served as artistic director at London's Old Vic theater from 2003 to 2015. 

In the first incident, Spacey is accused of groping a man Spacey employed as a driver in London, according to Deadline. In a second, Spacey allegedly grabbed a man's penis "with such force it was painful." Spacey is also accused of performing oral sex on a man who fell asleep in his apartment. Finally, he's accused of grabbing a man's crotch after they met in a pub, per Deadline. 

Could he go to jail?

Yes, Spacey could receive jail time if he's convicted. He's facing criminal charges, whereas a previous sexual assault case that he won in New York last year was a civil trial. The charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to Reuters. 

What have prosecutors said? 

As the trial began, prosecutor Christine Agnew told jurors that Spacey "delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable" and is a "sexual bully," adding, "none of the men wanted to be touched by Kevin Spacey Fowler in a sexual way, but he doesn't seem to have cared very much for their feelings," per The Washington Post. "He did what he wanted to do for his own personal sexual gratification." 

What else have jurors heard during the trial?

The man whom Spacey employed as a driver told jurors that the actor is a "slippery, snaky, difficult person" who groped him, and he also accused the actor of grooming, according to CBS News. "He grabbed me so hard I almost came off the road," the man said, per Deadline. "He grabbed me really hard, and it really hurt. I pushed him against the door and said, 'Don't do that again, or I will knock you out.'" The accuser also compared Spacey, who allegedly groped him a "good dozen times," to Spacey's serial killer character from the movie "Se7en." 

Jurors saw additional interviews between accusers and police, with one alleging Spacey grabbed his genitals and saying it was "not like a seduction" but "was angry," adding that he had to push the actor away twice, per The Associated Press. The accuser who met Spacey in a pub said he pushed him away after the actor grabbed his crotch and said, "Be cool, be cool." The fourth accuser alleged that after he woke up to find Spacey had just performed a sex act on him, the actor "said I shouldn't talk to anyone about what had happened." 

What has Spacey said? 

Spacey has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and has denied any nonconsensual sexual conduct. According to Variety, the actor said he didn't recall meeting two of the accusers, said he was "baffled" that the first accuser has "reimagined" their time together and acknowledged he may have made a "clumsy pass" in the third accuser's case but denied assaulting him. Spacey's attorney told jurors that they would hear "deliberate exaggerations" and "damned lies" during the trial. 

Spacey also claimed in an interview with ZEITmagazin that "there are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London," and "the second that happens, they're ready to move forward." In October 2022, a jury found Spacey not liable in a sexual assault lawsuit brought by Anthony Rapp, who was one of the first people to level sexual misconduct allegations against him in 2017. 

Spacey's trial is expected to last four weeks.