London, July 26 : Former ‘House of Cards’ star Kevin Spacey broke down in tears on Wednesday as a UK jury found him not guilty of nine charges of sexual assault, indecent assault and — the most serious of them all — causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity, says ‘Variety’.
This means, according to ‘Variety’, that Spacey, on his 64th birthday, has been cleared of all charges against him in the UK. It took the jury two days to come to the decision. The actor has spent the past four and a half weeks at Southwark Crown Court in London fighting his case.
During the course of the trial, the jury heard from the four men who had made the complaints against the actor (none of the men can be named for legal reasons).
Originally, Spacey was charged with 12 counts, plus an addendum to one of the counts, but these were reduced to nine last week due to a “legal technicality”, adds ‘Variety’.
The acquittals are yet another victory for Spacey, who won a $40 million civil lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp last October. Rapp, ‘Variety’ notes, had accused Spacey of sexual battery, which took place in 1986, but a New York jury dismissed the claim.
