Kevin Spacey Pleads Not Guilty to Sexual Assault, Leaves Grinning

Accused serial sexual predator Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty in Nantucket, Mass., Monday in the first criminal case brought against him. The actor entered the plea on a charge of indecent assault and battery for allegedly shoving his hand down an 18-year-old's pants at one of the island's bars in 2016, according to the Boston Herald.The alleged victim is the son of Heather Unruh, a former anchor on Boston TV station WCVB.

Spacey, who has been accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen men, was silent during his appearance at the Nantucket courthouse. As he left the courthouse, however, he rubbed his hands together while smiling broadly, the Herald reports.

Prosecutors in the case requested that Spacey have no contact, direct or indirect, with his accuser, which Judge Thomas Barrett granted.

Unruh's son came forward in 2017 to "lead by example," his attorney Mitchell Garabedian said in a statement.

"By reporting the sexual assault, my client is a determined and encouraging voice for those victims not yet ready to report being sexually assaulted," Garabedian said.

During the height of the #MeToo movement in the fall of 2017, actor Anthony Rapp (Star Trek: Discovery, Rent) shared his story of Spacey assaulting him at a party when Rapp was just 14 years old. From there, allegations of Spacey's misconduct poured in from several men, which led to the actor's career nosediving. Within weeks, he was removed from All the Money in the World and fired from House of Cards.

Unruh's son, whose name has not been made public, told police that he was finishing a shift at Nantucket's Club Car in 2016 when Spacey began asking him sexual questions before shoving his hands down the teen's pants. The teen Snapchatted part of the assault and sent it to his girlfriend as proof, which the girlfriend corroborated, according to the Herald.

"Spacey stuck his hand inside my son's pants and grabbed his genitals," Unruh said at a news conference in 2017. "This was completely unexpected, and my son's efforts to shift his body to remove Spacey's hand were only momentarily successful. The violation continued. My son panicked. He froze."

The Oscar winner's attorney Alan Jackson made a motion to investigate the texts on the teen's phone around the time of the alleged assault, stating that the information could "vindicate" his client. Prosecutors called it a "fishing expedition," but the judge granted the motion.

Spacey's next hearing is schedule for March 4, although he is not required to be there.