Hollywood star Kevin Spacey cleared of sexual assault charges in UK

Hollywood star Kevin Spacey was on Wednesday cleared of all charges in his sexual assault trial in London

London: Hollywood star Kevin Spacey was on Wednesday cleared of all charges in his sexual assault trial in London, where the jury returned not guilty verdicts for nine sexual offence charges relating to four men between 2001 and 2013.

The actor, who turned 64 on Wednesday, had denied the allegations against him and was in tears as the verdicts were read out. Outside Southwark Crown Court, he made a brief statement thanking the jury for the not-guilty verdicts.

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“I imagine that many of you can understand that there is a lot for me to process after what has just happened today,” Spacey told reporters.

“But I would like to say that I am enormously grateful to the jury for having taken the time to examine all of the evidence and all of the facts carefully before they reached their decision, and I am humbled by the outcome today,” he said.

Thanking his legal team and courthouse staff, the Hollywood star walked away a free man after a four-week-long trial. The jury rejected the prosecution’s claims that Spacey had “aggressively” grabbed three men by the crotch and had performed a sex act on another man while he was asleep in his flat.

The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) issued a statement saying: “The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges.” The court heard from multiple witnesses, including singer Elton John and his partner David Furnish who spoke in favour of Spacey.

Others gave testimony to accuse the actor of improper sexual conduct during his time as Artistic Director at The Old Vic Theatre in London.

Spacey, best known for films like ‘American Beauty’ and ‘The Usual Suspects’ and for the political drama series ‘House Of Cards’, had denied all the allegations and broke down in court as he spoke of the toll they had taken on his life and career. His defence team had labelled the prosecution’s case against him as “weak” and accused some of the complainants of being motivated by the lure of a monetary settlement.