Judge decrees Kevin Spacey must appear in court to face felony sexual assault charge

After laying low for a while, actor Kevin Spacey re-appeared in the public spotlight recently after at least 12 men, five of whom were minors at the time, came forward last fall to allege he sexually harassed, groped, assaulted or attempted to rape them.  Also of late, the disgraced and former “House of Cards” star has been engaged in some legal wrangling in an effort to avoid a personal appearance in court so he would not have to physically appear for a formal arraignment where he’d have to face charges of felony sexual assault.

Unfortunately for Spacey, according to Yahoo! News, the judge overseeing that case has ruled that Spacey must make that January 7 appearance in a Nantucket, Massachusetts District Court to face those criminal charges.  Spacey has already entered a plea of not guilty to those charges.

… Spacey will be arraigned on a charge of indecent assault and battery related to a 2016 incident. The alleged incident took place at a Nantucket bar in July 2016 and involved the 18-year-old son of former Boston WCVB-TV news anchor Heather Unruh.

Spacey, 59, made the legal argument that he should not have to physically appear in court on January 7 as his presence would “amplify the negative publicity already generated in connection with this case,” according to a quote from Fox News. But on New Year’s Eve, Judge Thomas Barrett shot down that argument.

In a video entitled “Let Me be Frank,” Spacey’s recent foray back into the public eye following his self-imposed retirement from the spotlight, occurred when he released an offbeat and confusing Christmas Eve video where he seemed to appear as his “House of Cards” character Frank Underwood.  In that video, Spacey – as Underwood – can be heard saying “I’m certainly not going to pay the price for the thing I didn’t do.”

We also learned this past weekend that Spacey has been hiding out in a multi-million-dollar waterfront townhouse in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area where he was seen chatting it up with a Domino’s Pizza delivery man who was handing off a medium-sized pizza to the beleaguered actor. Paparazzi were on the scene.

In the clip, you hear Spacey tell the pap he appreciates what he’s doing … and goes on to wish him a happy new year and tells him to stay warm. Another camera guy follows him back to his car and asks if he’ll be appearing in court himself, but Spacey’s mum.  ~ per TMZ

If found guilty on his felony sexual assault charge, Spacey could serve up to five years behind bars.  He’s also embroiled in a few other sexual assault investigations, one which includes a 14-year-old boy.

~ Written by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter