The young man accusing Kevin Spacey of sexual assault filed a civil lawsuit against the actor this week, adding a new twist to a case that’s seen a month of whirlwind developments.
Spacey is alreadyfacing a criminal charge of indecent assaultover the incident that allegedly happened in July 2016 when the accuser was an 18-year-old busboy at a bar in Massachusetts. He has pleaded not guilty.
In the civil complaint filed Wednesday in Superior Court, the accuser says Spacey bought him “multiple alcoholic beverages” at the Nantucket bar then forcibly touched and fondled his genitals — the same allegations he makes in the criminal case.
The suit accuses Spacey of explicit sexual behavior and infliction of mental distress, and demands judgment in an amount to be determined by a jury, including costs, interests and attorney fees.
CNN is not naming the accuser because he is an alleged sexual assault victim.
Accuser’s cellphone is missing
The civil suit caps an eventful month in the criminal case.
Last week, the accuser, his mother and their attorney said they cannot find the cell phone he used the night of the alleged sexual assault, according to court documents.
A Nantucket judge ordered the three of them to turn over the phone so defense experts could examine it. Spacey’s lawyers have said that evidence that could exonerate the 59-year-old actor was deleted from the phone before it was turned over to prosecutors.
Evidence was deleted, defense lawyer says
During the alleged assault, the accuser sent text messages to his girlfriend from the phone, including a short video.
Prosecutors told Judge Thomas Barrett last month they obtained a copy of datafrom the phone, but the device was then returned.
A CD containing the files obtained from the phone was given to defense attorneys, but they say that was not sufficient.
“Access to the underlying databases is necessary to perform a proper analysis, including whether messages may have been deleted or to attempt recovery of deleted data,” defense expert Sankara Shanmugam wrote in an affidavit.
Spacey’s lawyers argued screen shots and a report by police leave no question evidence was deleted, and they should be allowed to try and recover it.
“He and or his mother deleted the exculpatory texts that were on the phone,” defense attorney Alan Jackson said in a hearing this month. “They deleted information that they didn’t want the police to have, they deleted information they didn’t want us to have.”
Since the phone cannot be found, family attorney Mitchell Garabedian said they’re trying to find backups of what was on it.
Judge Barrett extended the deadline for turning the phone over until July 8. If the phone is not found by then, the accuser, his mother and attorney must appear in court to testify about its whereabouts.
