Massage therapist who sued Kevin Spacey for sexual battery has died
The John Doe massage therapist suing actor Kevin Spacey for sexual battery has died, according to a new court filing.
Spacey's camp filed a three-page notice of plaintiff's death in federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The paperwork states the masseur's lawyer contacted Spacey's legal team on Sept. 11 to say the plaintiff had "recently passed."
"No further information or details have been given to (Spacey's) counsel, but plaintiff's counsel stated they intend to notify the court with additional information at an appropriate time in the future," the notice said.
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The therapist filed his lawsuit last year, alleging the House of Cards actor hired him for an October 2016 appointment at a private residence in Malibu and then grabbed his hand and pulled it toward his crotch to force a sex act.
"Plaintiff initially gave Spacey the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was directing plaintiff to massage the pain in his groin area," the lawsuit said.
The therapist said he tried to ignore the advance and continued the massage on Spacey's leg in a "nonsexual, professional manner."
"Spacey again grabbed plaintiff's hand, but this time forced plaintiff's hand to rub his penis, scrotum and testicles," the lawsuit said.
Detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department began a probe of the claims in May 2018, a sheriff's spokeswoman previously told the Daily News.
The Los Angeles District Attorney declined to file charges against the American Beauty actor in a separate case involving sex assault allegations dating back to 1992 that were presented by investigators in April 2018.
The alleged underlying incident was too old to consider any charges, prosecutors said.
Spacey, 60, has been accused of sexual misconduct by numerous men since his first public accuser, former Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp, stepped forward in 2017.
In July, Massachusetts prosecutors dropped a high-profile case claiming the actor groped an 18-year-old man at a Nantucket bar in 2016 because the accuser stopped cooperating.
The Cape and Islands district attorney said in a filing obtained by The News that the case was scrapped "due to the unavailability of the complaining witness."
Spacey's accuser, who claimed the actor had gotten him drunk and groped him, invoked his Fifth Amendment right in a surprise move at a pretrial hearing.
The man had said under oath that he no longer had his mobile phone from the time of the alleged attack and did not delete or alter any messages handed over in the case.
When Spacey's lawyer Alan Jackson grilled him under cross-examination and warned it's a felony under Massachusetts law to tinker with evidence, the judge pulled the lawyers into a sidebar discussion and appointed the accuser a lawyer, a courtroom source told The News.
The young man then asserted his right not to incriminate himself.
- New York Daily News
Source: www.stuff.co.nz