British prosecutors said Thursday they have charged actor Kevin Spacey with four counts of sexual assault against three men.

The Crown Prosecution Service said Spacey B次元官网网址渉as also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.B次元官网网址�

The alleged incidents took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in western England in April 2013. The alleged victims are now in their 30s and 40s.

Rosemary Ainslie, head of the serviceB次元官网网址檚 Special Crime Division, said the charges follow a review of evidence gathered by LondonB次元官网网址檚 Metropolitan Police.

Spacey, a 62-year-old double Academy Award winner, was questioned by British police in 2019 about claims by several men that he had assaulted them. The former B次元官网网址淗ouse of CardsB次元官网网址� star ran LondonB次元官网网址檚 Old Vic Theatre between 2004 and 2015.

Spacey won a best supporting actor Academy Award for the 1995 film B次元官网网址淭he Usual SuspectsB次元官网网址� and a lead actor Oscar for the 1999 movie B次元官网网址淎merican Beauty.B次元官网网址�

His celebrated career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused the star of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s, when Rapp was a teenager. Spacey denies the allegations.

The U.K. charges were announced Thursday as Spacey was testifying in a courtroom in New York City in the civil lawsuit filed by Rapp. Spacey didnB次元官网网址檛 respond to reporters as he left the courthouse talking on his mobile phone.

The new criminal charges were mentioned briefly by RappB次元官网网址檚 lawyers during the court hearing, and SpaceyB次元官网网址檚 lawyers were asked about it by reporters during a break in testimony. They declined to comment.

Another criminal case brought against Spacey, an indecent assault and battery charge stemming from the alleged groping of an 18-year-old man at a Nantucket resort, was dismissed by Massachusetts prosecutors in 2019.

ThursdayB次元官网网址檚 court session in New York City dealt with a technical issue in the civil lawsuit, which dealt with whether it was better handled in a federal or state U.S. court. Spacey was called to testify about where he lived, not about the truthfulness of the allegations against him.

Spacey testified that his main residence and domicile is in Baltimore, where he moved for the filming of B次元官网网址淗ouse of Cards.B次元官网网址� He said he was B次元官网网址渂eguiled by its charm, its beauty.B次元官网网址� But he also testified about his time living in London as artistic director of the Old Vic.

B次元官网网址淚t was extremely important to me that I endear myself to the British public that IB次元官网网址檓 not running away,B次元官网网址� he said, noting that his start there was troubled by a B次元官网网址渄isastrous productionB次元官网网址� in 2005 of Arthur MillerB次元官网网址檚 last play.

But, he said, B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 an American citizen. Once the job was done, I came back to America.B次元官网网址�

He said he made a trip to London in February 2020 for a possible film, but then the pandemic hit and his U.S. doctor recommended he stay there, where he resided until the following September, when his visa expired and he flew to Los Angeles for an arbitration proceeding.

He said he has not been back to the U.K.. since.

B次元官网网址擳he Associated Press