Kevin Spacey Set For NYC Trial Over Sexual Assault Lawsuit

NEW YORK CITY — Disgraced actor Kevin Spacey's next big public appearance likely will be Oct. 6 in a New York City federal courthouse for a high-profile sexual assault trial.

A judge set the trial date Thursday in actor Anthony Rapp's civil lawsuit against Spacey, according to a court order.

The trial will delve into Rapp's accusations that Spacey sexually assaulted him in a Manhattan apartment in 1986, when Rapp was 14 years old, court documents state.

Spacey made an unwanted sexual advance and lifted Rapp onto a bed by the buttocks, the lawsuit contends.

"Prior to touching plaintiff's body and buttocks, defendant, KEVIN SPACEY, through his words and acts, intentionally caused the plaintiff, ANTHONY RAPP, to become apprehensive that a harmful and/or offensive bodily contact was about to occur," the original complaint states.

Rapp first told his story in 2017 and set off a chain reaction of accusations against Spacey, who lost prominent acting roles including the lead on Netflix's "House of Cards" and now faces charges in London that he sexually assaulted three men.

Spacey has denied the accusations and fought to have Rapp's lawsuit thrown out.

But Judge Lewis Kaplan in June ruled that there is a genuine question for jurors to consider: whether Spacey forcibly touched Rapp's "intimate parts."

Jurors will be selected starting Oct. 6 with a trial to start "immediately," Kaplan's trial order states.