A
sex-assault
civil
lawsuit
against
actor
Kevin
Spacey
can
proceed
in
federal
court
in
New
York
City,
a
federal
judge
ruled
Monday.
Judge
Lewis
A.
Kaplan
said
in
a
written
ruling
that
the
allegations
that
actor
Anthony
Rapp
brought
against
Spacey
established
an
issue
of
material
fact
as
to
whether
Rapp
sufficiently
alleges
that
Spacey
acted
to
gratify
sexual
desire
during
an
encounter
at
a
Manhattan
party
in
1986
when
Rapp
was
14.
The
judge
noted
that
Rapp
has
alleged
that
Spacey
placed
a
clothed
Rapp
on
a
bed
and
briefly
put
his
own
clothed
body
partially
beside
and
partially
across
Rapp's
before
Rapp
“wriggled
out,”
got
up,
and
left
the
premises.
In
his
lawsuit,
Rapp
seeks
compensatory
and
punitive
damages
for
what
he
alleges
was
assault,
battery
and
intentional
infliction
of
emotional
distress.
Rapp
testified
at
a
deposition
that
there
was
no
kissing,
no
undressing,
no
reaching
under
clothes
and
no
sexualised
statements
or
innuendo
during
an
encounter
that
lasted
no
more
than
two
minutes,
the
judge
said.
Spacey
denies
the
allegations.
Kaplan
did
dismiss
a
common
law
assault
allegation,
saying
the
claim
was
not
included
in
those
revived
by
a
Child
Victims
Act
in
New
York
state
that
in
2019
temporarily
allowed
individuals
to
make
claims
in
instances
in
which
the
statute
of
limitations
would
normally
have
barred
them.
The
ruling
comes
two
weeks
after
British
prosecutors
said
they
had
authorised
police
to
charge
Spacey
with
four
counts
of
sexual
assault
against
three
men.
The
alleged
incidents
occurred
in
London
between
2005
and
2013.
Peter
Saghir,
a
lawyer
for
Rapp,
declined
comment.
A
lawyer
for
Spacey
did
not
return
a
message
seeking
comment.
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