Kevin Spacey sexual assault case dropped after accuser dies

Albertina Lloyd
·Contributor
FILE - In this June 3, 2019 file photo, actor Kevin Spacey attends a pretrial hearing at district court in Nantucket, Mass. The Oscar-winning actor is accused of groping the teenage son of a former Boston TV anchor in 2016 in the crowded bar at the Club Car in Nantucket. An attorney for the man who has accused Spacey says, Wednesday, June 19, 2019, that the man cannot find a cellphone he has been ordered to turn over to the defense. Spacey's lawyers want to try to recover text messages they say would help the actor's case. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Kevin Spacey will not face charges over the alleged incident in Malibu (Credit: AP)

Kevin Spacey will not be charged with sexual assault due to the death of his accuser.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has formally dropped a case against the Oscar-winning actor relating to allegations from October 2016, after the accuser died, Variety has reported.

A massage therapist had alleged that Spacey, 60, tried to kiss him and forced him to grab his genitals during a session in Malibu in October 2016.

The alleged victim’s lawyer notified the House Of Cards star’s legal team that the accuser had died last month. A source told Variety the accuser died of cancer.

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The allegations were made to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and were referred to the D.A.’s office in July 2018. The accuser’s civil attorney filed a lawsuit against Spacet in September 2018.

Christina Buckley, the head deputy in the D.A.’s sex crimes unit, filed a report this week, writing: “During the course of the investigation, the victim passed away. The sexual assault allegations cannot be proved without the participation of the victim. Thus, the case was declined.”

Actor Kevin Spacey, center left, departs district court on Monday, Jan. 7, 2019, in Nantucket, Mass., after his arraignment on a charge of indecent assault and battery. The Oscar-winning actor is accused of groping the teenage son of a former Boston TV anchor in 2016 in the crowded bar at the Club Car in Nantucket. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Kevin Spacey leaving the district court in Nantucket in January 2019 (Credit: AP)

Another case against the American Beauty star was dropped in July this year in Nantucket, Massachusetts, after the accuser refused to testify in court.

Read more: House of Cards to be axed after next series, amid Kevin Spacey sex claims

The man’s mother, former Boston TV anchor Heather Unruh, alleged that in 2016 Spacey got her teenage son drunk and sexually assaulted him at the Club Car bar in Nantucket, where he was working as a waiter.

But the alleged victim refused to take the stand to give evidence about a missing mobile phone, which Spacey’s legal team said they needed to recover deleted text messages to aid his defence.

The actor denied the charges of indecent assault and battery - the only criminal case to have been brought against him following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct made against Spacey as part of the #MeToo movement.

Anthony Rapp attends the 36th Annual PaleyFest "Star Trek: Discovery and The Twilight Zone" at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Anthony Rapp alleged Kevin Spacey sexually assaulted him as a teenaher (Credit: AP)

His original accuser, actor Anthony Rapp, claimed Spacey climbed on top of him on a bed when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. The two-time Oscar winner said he did not remember the encounter but apologised if the allegations were true.

Spacey’s career has since collapsed, with his House Of Cards character being killed off.