Ex-TV anchor accuses Spacey of abusing son
Since Oct. 29, Kevin Spacey has been accused by more than a dozen men who say he sexually harassed, groped, assaulted or attempted to rape them in allegations spanning decades.
Heather Unruh, a former TV news anchor in Boston, said in a press conference Wednesday that the Oscar-winning actor assaulted her son, who was 18 at the time. Holding back tears, Unruh said that in July 2016, Spacey stuck his hand in her son’s pants and on his genitals at a bar in Nantucket, Mass.
Unruh said her son told Spacey he was of legal age to drink, and “Spacey bought him drink after drink after drink and when my son was drunk, Spacey made his move and sexually assaulted him.”
She continued, saying Spacey urged her intoxicated son to go to a private afterparty to continue drinking, but a concerned bystander asked her son if he was OK. When he relayed that he was not, Unruh said the woman told her son to run and he did.
“Nothing could’ve prepared my son for how that sexual assault would make him feel as a man,” she said. “It harmed him and it cannot be undone.”
Unruh said her son filed a police report last week and provided evidence to Nantucket police. She says a criminal investigation was opened, though the Nantucket Police Department did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for confirmation.
“He’s committed to doing what he can to stop Kevin Spacey from victimizing anyone else,” Unruh said.
She also had a message for the actor. “To Kevin Spacey I want to say this: Shame on you for what you did to my son and shame on you for using your apology to Anthony Rapp to come out as a gay man,” she said. “That was an appalling attempt to distract attention away from what you really are: a sexual predator. Your actions are criminal.”
Unruh appeared with attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who has represented victims of clergy sexual abuse, at the Hilton Boston Downtown/Faneuil Hall.
“The civil claim against Kevin Spacey happened in Massachusetts and is well within the civil statute of limitations,” Garabedian said. “It is also within the criminal statute of limitations. I am informed that my client did speak to the Nantucket police department and they are conducting an investigation.”
Spacey’s reps did not immediately return USA TODAY’s request for comment. Spacey issued a statement on Twitter following Rapp’s allegations, saying he was “beyond horrified” and insisting he didn’t remember the encounter. In the same statement, he came out as gay for the first time in public.