The Telegraph can reveal that one of the actor's three alleged victims has launched a civil claim in the High Court for 'psychiatric damage'. Photo / AP
The Telegraph can reveal that one of the actor's three alleged victims has launched a civil claim in the High Court for 'psychiatric damage'. Photo / AP
Kevin Spacey is being sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars for "psychiatric damage" by one of the men he is accused of sexually assaulting.
The Hollywood star is due to stand trial next year to answer five charges of sexual assault against three men, dating back 17 years while he was artistic director of The Old Vic theatre in London.
The Telegraph can reveal that one of the victims has now launched a civil claim in the High Court for "aggravated and exemplary" damages for multiple alleged sexual assaults.
He claims the alleged assaults caused him extensive mental problems, and has submitted a document of evidence setting out the medical help he says he has required in the intervening years.
The civil claim relates to the criminal charges of sexual assault on a man, now in his 30s, and of causing him to engage in penetrative sexual activity without his consent in August of 2008.
Spacey, who led The Old Vic between 2004 and 2015, flew to London in June to personally enter not guilty pleas to all five charges.
The House of Cards and American Beauty star has vowed to clear his name and was granted unconditional bail.
He will face a three- to four-week trial at either the Old Bailey or Southwark Crown Court starting on June 6 next year.
The High Court proceedings are likely to take place afterwards.
The actor was surrounded by the media as he arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court on June 16. Photo / AP
Documents filed to the Queen's Bench Division on June 14 state: "The assault and the psychiatric damage were caused to the claimant by the intentional assault by the defendant.
"The claimant claims damages for personal injury expected to exceed GBP£300,000 (NZ$576,227)".
Aggravated damages are intended to reflect the manner of a wrong committed by a defendant, or the defendant's subsequent conduct.
The Crown Prosecution Service authorised the charges against Spacey in May, but he could only be formally charged after arriving in Britain.
He was mobbed by camera crews and photographers as he arrived in court.
The charges comprise two counts of sexual assault on a man, who is now in his 40s, in March 2005 in London; sexual assault on a man, who is now in his 30s, and causing him to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent, in August 2008 in London; and sexual assault on a man, who is now in his 30s, in April 2013 in Gloucestershire.
At the initial court hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in June, Spacey's lawyer, Patrick Gibbs QC, said his client "strenuously denies any and all criminality in this case".
Gibbs said Spacey returned to the UK "to establish his innocence" and "proceed with his life".
The two-time Oscar-winner has an address in Waterloo, south London, and in the US, where he has family and a nine-year-old dog, which his lawyers asked the court to take into account when deciding whether to grant him bail.
He had previously submitted to four days of interviews by Metropolitan Police officers who had travelled to New York.
The claimant is being represented by the serious injury unit at Fieldfisher, the team that previously represented alleged victims of Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein.
Carter Ruck, the law firm representing Spacey, said: "Kevin Spacey was already aware of these allegations, which relate to pre-existing allegations which are the subject of the criminal proceedings in which Mr Spacey has pleaded not guilty. The civil claim will also be defended."
