Jury starts deliberating in Kevin Spacey sexual assault trial with max sentence of life in prison
The jury in Kevin Spacey’s sex-assault trial started deliberations Monday on charges that could see the two-time Academy Award winner sentenced to life in prison.
The jury of nine men and three women retired after nearly five weeks of evidence at London’s Southwark Crown Court into the accusations by four men who say they were molested between 2001 and 2013.
Prosecutor Christine Agnew called the 63-year-old “American Beauty” star a “sexual bully” who “delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable.”
Three of the accusers claim they were aggressively groped — while the fourth alleged Spacey performed oral sex on him when he was passed out in the star’s London flat.
The four variously described the actor as a “vile sexual predator,” “slippery” and “atrocious, despicable, disgusting.”
Spacey, however, has pleaded not guilty to all nine charges, dismissing the crotch-grabbing allegations by one as a “clumsy pass.”
The star fought back tears and dabbed his eyes with a tissue as he testified about how the sex assault allegations destroyed his career when brought six years ago.
“My world exploded,” Spacey told the jurors. “There was a rush to judgment and before the first question was asked or answered I lost my job, I lost my reputation, I lost everything in a matter of days.”
Spacey is free on bail, and has arrived to court most days in a London cab.
However, he faces up to life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge, causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
Still, the “House of Cards” star has optimistically predicted a career comeback if acquitted.
There are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London,” Spacey recently told Germany’s Zeit magazine.
With Post wires
