Kevin Spacey found not guilty in London sexual offenses trial

A jury in London has found actor Kevin Spacey not guilty of nine sexual offense charges following a nearly month-long trial.

Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner, faced seven sexual assault charges, as well as one charge of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and another for causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity. Two men alleged that Spacey grabbed them by the crotch, and another stated he awoke one night to find the actor performing oral sex on him.

Spacey was visibly emotional as the verdict was read on Wednesday, and began crying when he learned he had been cleared of the charges, according to the BBC.

During the trial, prosecutor Christina Agnew argued that the actor was a “vile sexual predator” and a “sexual bully.” Spacey, 63, was accused of sexual impropriety between 2001 and 2013 by four men.

He maintained his innocence throughout the trial, and denied all the allegations against him. The actor’s lawyer, Patrick Gibbs, told the jury that they would hear “damned lies” about his client.

Elton John and his husband David Furnish appeared as star witnesses in Spacey’s defense. In a rare interview with a German magazine ahead of the trial, Spacey claimed that although he would need to rehabilitate his image, he believed there were Hollywood directors ready to hire him if he was cleared of his charges in London.

More than a dozen men have accused Spacey of sexual misconduct since 2017.

In October, a jury in the U.S. found Spacey not liable in a civil case brought by Anthony Rapp.

Rapp alleged that Spacey had climbed on top of him during a drunken encounter in 1986, when Rapp was 14.