Actor Kevin Spacey pleads not guilty to sex offenses charges in UK court

Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty to accusations of sex offenses dating back almost 20 years in a London court on Thursday.

Spacey clearly said “not guilty” when five charges were put on him at London’s Old Bailey central criminal court.

The former “House of Cards” star, who ran London’s Old Vic theater between 2004 and 2015, denied four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

The incidents allegedly took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in western England in April 2013. The victims are now in their 30s and 40s.

Spacey was granted bail and allowed to return to the United States after a preliminary hearing last month. A judge is expected to set a timeline for his trial on Thursday.

Spacey won a best supporting actor Academy Award for the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” and a lead actor Oscar for the 1999 movie “American Beauty.”

But his celebrated career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused the star of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s, when Rapp was a teenager. Spacey denies the allegations.