Prosecutors have declined to file criminal charges on separate sexual abuse allegations against Steven Seagal, Anthony Anderson, and Kevin Spacey.
The office has announced on Sept. 4 that it has not agreed to go through with prosecuting sex crime cases for Seagal and Spacey because it has surpassed the state's statute of limitations. On the other hand, Anderson's case was not filed because the victim did not agree to cooperate with investigators.
Charges Against 3 Celebrities Dropped
According to a D.A. worksheet, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department examined a case of forcible sodomy committed by the acclaimed House of Cards actor Kevin Spacey in 1992. However, the accusation was considered too old. According to the authorities, the victim was not a minor when the alleged crime happened.
The case of an 18-year-old woman who was allegedly assaulted by Seagal, the celebrity-turned-Russian-envoy to the United States in 1993, was also dropped. The Beverly Hills Police Department investigated the report and forwarded it to the district attorney. However, the statute of limitations expired in 1999.
Earlier this spring, LAPD investigated a claim of sexual assault against Anderson. Furthermore, representatives of the Black-ish star said that the actor unequivocally disputed the woman's allegations.
"The reporting party has declined to be interviewed by the investigating officer," a prosecutor stated. "The interview is a necessary piece of the investigation. Prosecution is declined due to lack of sufficient evidence to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the allegations."
Currently, the office of the district attorney is still reviewing an allegation against Seagal. Additionally, Spacey is still also under investigation for a case received by the office on Aug. 21 reported Greg Risling, a spokesman for the D.A. office.
Notably, the Oscar-winning actor has been a subject of many allegations of sexual misconduct since last year both in the country and abroad.
Rising Cases Of Sexual Harassment
After producer Harvey Weinstein had been reported for unwanted physical conduct and sexual harassment just last year, the office was bombarded with Hollywood-related cases of sexual abuse.
To help with this, they made a special task force, which was assigned to handle and examine the allegations of sexual offenses in Hollywood. However, most allegations were dismissed because it falls outside the statute of limitation.
Until now, the D.A.'s office is still examining cases against Weinstein whose scandal sparked the widely popular #MeToo movement in October 2017. The hashtag is used in an effort to show how common sexual harassment and assault is, especially in the workplace.
