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Spacey's alleged victim sued the 59-year-old
defendant in Nantucket County Superior Court on Wednesday,
seeking unspecified damages over his "explicit sexual behavior
and lewd and lascivious conduct."
Prosecutors last year filed a related criminal case against
Spacey over the man's allegations. Spacey, who won an Academy
Award in 2000 for his role in "American Beauty," has pleaded not
guilty to one count of felony indecent assault and battery and
denies the allegation.
Reuters is not identifying the man because he is an alleged
victim of sexual assault. Spacey's lawyer did not respond to a
request for comment.
Spacey became embroiled in controversy in October 2017 when
actor Anthony Rapp accused him of trying to seduce him in 1986
when Rapp was 14. The controversy led to Spacey being dropped
from the Netflix television series "House of Cards" and erased
from the film "All the Money in the World."
Spacey apologized for inappropriate conduct with Rapp.
He is one of dozens of men in the entertainment industry,
business and politics who have been accused of sexual misconduct
since accusations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein in
2017 sparked the #MeToo movement.
This week's lawsuit alleged Spacey bought the man, then 18,
multiple alcoholic drinks and groped his genitals without his
consent at the Club Car Restaurant on Nantucket in July 2016.
The Nantucket allegations were first raised in 2017 by former
television journalist Heather Unruh, who told reporters Spacey
groped her teenage son.
The victim told police Spacey had bought him several rounds of
beer and whiskey and said at one point, "Let's get drunk,"
according to charging documents.
As they stood next to a piano, Spacey groped him, he told
investigators.
Spacey's lawyers have accused Unruh's son of deleting text
messages that would support his defense. The judge overseeing
his criminal case recently ordered Spacey's accuser to provide
his cellphone to the defense.
But the man's attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, on July 19 told the
court the accuser cannot find the phone. The judge has ordered
Unruh, Garabedian and the accuser to attend a July 8 hearing if
it cannot be found.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Scott Malone and Tom
Brown)
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