Will Kevin Spacey Face Criminal Charges For Sexual Assault In Hollywood?

Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing a sexual assault case against Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey, who is accused of assaulting a man in Hollywood in 1992. But the case might face obstacles that would make a prosecution impossible. 

The allegations against Spacey, 58, were reported to Los Angeles police in December 2017. Police completed their investigation on April 5, and passed the case up to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Entertainment Industry Sex Crimes Task Force, which was created last November to handle Hollywood-related allegations. Variety first reported on the case's latest update.

Police and prosecutors declined to divulge details of the alleged assault, but prosecuting a 26-year-old case would face substantial hurdles, including statutes of limitation that curtail criminal prosecutions after a certain amount of time.

Different crimes come with different statutes of limitation, and because the potential charges against Spacey are not known, it's unclear if a case against him could proceed. TMZ claimed law enforcement sources said Spacey's case is outside the statute and will be rejected. 

The statute of limitation for sexual assault in California is generally 10 years.

A spokeswoman for Spacey, Laura Johnson, declined to comment on the allegations.

Starting with actor Adam Rapp last October, more than 30 men have accused Spacey of misconduct or unwanted sexual advances.

Rapp said that, after a party in Spacey’s New York apartment in 1986, Spacey picked him up, placed him on a bed, climbed on top of him and made a sexual advance.  Spacey tweeted an apology to Rapp, but has been silent about subsequent allegations.

In England, Scotland Yard is investigating three separate sexual assault allegations against Spacey. The Old Vic theater in London, where Spacey served as artistic director for 12 years, said it had received 20 accusations of “a range of inappropriate behaviour relating to Kevin Spacey” between 1995 and 2013.

The consequences for Spacey have been swift and severe as he became one of the biggest Hollywood stars taken down by the #MeToo movement.

Netflix fired Spacey from his starring role in “House of Cards” and canceled a Gore Vidal biopic in which he was set to star. He was also cut out of Ridley Scott's film “All the Money in the World” weeks before its release and was replaced in all of his scenes by Christopher Plummer, who earned an Oscar nomination for the role. The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences revoked its previous decision to honor Spacey in 2017 with an International Emmy Founders Award.

[PHOTO: GETTY]