British prosecutors charge Kevin Spacey with 7 additional sexual assaults

Nov. 16 (UPI) -- British law enforcement authorities have filed seven new criminal charges against actor Kevin Spacey -- including three counts of sexual assault -- in connection with misconduct that allegedly occurred around 20 years ago.

The special crime division of the UK's Crown Prosecution Services issued a statement Wednesday spelling out the charges against Spacey, which stemmed from accusations leveled by one victim between 2001 and 2004.

Rosemary Ainslie, who heads the unit, wrote in the release that one of the charges against the two-time Academy Award winner is related to his "causing a person to engage in sexual activity without their consent."

The statement also noted that the Metropolitan Police was involved in collecting evidence as part of the investigation.

The latest legal trouble for Spacey comes as he was already facing trial in London next summer over the alleged sexual assault of three men, charges to which he pleaded not guilty in July.

The new criminal complaint was set to be mailed to Spacey this week along with a summons to appear in a London court to answer to the charges.

The 63-year-old American actor became a steady presence on the British arts scene between 2004 to 2015 after he took over as creative director of the Old Vic theater in London.

Nearly a decade earlier, Spacey won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Verbal Kint in "The Usual Suspects" in 1995. In 1999, he won his second Oscar, this time for Best Actor in the film "American Beauty."

Despite the accolades, Spacey has faced numerous public controversies and multiple sexual misconduct investigations in the United States dating as far back as the mid-1980s.

After a scandal emerged in 2012, Spacey's popular show "House of Cards" was forced to shut down production during its sixth and final season.

More recently, a federal jury in Manhattan last month found that Spacey was not liable for battery in a civil action brought by actor Anthony Rapp, who alleged that Spacey inappropriately climbed on top of him in 1986 when he was just 14 years old.