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Los Angeles prosecutors have rejected filing sexual assault cases against Kevin Spacey, left, and Steven Seagal over alleged incidents that occurred in the early 1990s. Photo: AP

No Los Angeles sex charges for Kevin Spacey, Steven Seagal and Anthony Anderson

Cases against Spacey and Segal fall outside California statute of limitations, according to lawyers, Anderson accuser declines to be interviewed

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office said on Tuesday it would not prosecute actor Kevin Spacey on a 1992 sexual assault accusation because it fell outside the California statute of limitations.

The District Attorney’s office also said it would not charge actor Steven Seagal and television comedy star Anthony Anderson over two other sexual assault accusations.

Anthony Anderson, left, and Joseph Simmons at a Netflix premiere party in August 2018. Photo: AP

The 1993 accusations against action star Seagal fell outside the statute of limitations, while Anderson’s accuser declined to be interviewed and prosecution was declined because of lack of evidence, the office said.

Anderson in July denied wrongdoing. Seagal could not be reached for comment.

The Spacey case, involving an adult male, was presented to Los Angeles prosecutors in April and had been under review. The nature and origin of the accusation were not disclosed.

The District Attorney’s office said in a charge evaluation sheet released on Tuesday that the allegation was outside the statue of limitations and that prosecution had been declined.

Spacey could not be reached for comment.

Kevin Spacey in 2016, before stepping away from public life amid sex allegations. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Spacey became embroiled in controversy in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused him of trying to seduce him in 1986 when Rapp was 14.

He apologised for any inappropriate conduct with Rapp but has not commented since and has stepped away from public life.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office said in August that it was reviewing a second sexual assault accusation against Spacey, but declined to give details. The case is still under review.

More than 30 men have said they were victims of unwanted sexual advances by Spacey, including 20 people who came forward during an investigation by London’s Old Vic theatre, where Spacey was artistic director for 12 years.

Spacey, the Oscar-winning star of American Beauty, is one of dozens of men in the entertainment industry and politics who have been accused of sexual misconduct in the past 10 months, partly as a result of the #MeToo social media movement.

He was dropped last year from the Netflix television series House of Cards and erased from the film All the Money in the World.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES DROPPED
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