The former busboy accusing Kevin Spacey of groping him testified for the first time Monday — denying that he deleted messages from a now-lost phone that the star’s legal team maintains could prove his innocence.

The accuser, who was 18 when he claims Spacey assaulted him, took the stand in Nantucket District Court — but avoided coming face-to-face with the “House of Cards” star, who kept away from court.

Wearing a pink shirt, blue blazer and cream pants, the son of Boston TV anchor Heather Unruh appeared just days after dropping a civil suit against the actor, with his attorney blaming it on an “emotional rollercoaster.”

“He only wanted one rollercoaster at a time — the criminal case was it,” lawyer Mitchell Garabedian said of the accuser, now 21.

Spacey’s legal team insists the phone is crucial to the actor’s case because messages could prove the accuser willingly went along with him when they met at Nantucket’s Club Car in July 2016.

The star’s attorney Alan Jackson said the accuser tried to delete messages that showed “evidence of potential consent” — some later found by police — while handing over damning ones, including ones to his then-girlfriend pleading, “Help me.”

“Deleting text messages before you give them to the police is a felony,” Jackson warned in one particularly heated exchange, adding that it was “punishable by state prison.”

The accuser admitted parts of conversations as well as images and videos were missing, but was vague on how or why.

“I have no knowledge of any deletions of messages on my phone,” he said, with Jackson calling it implausible because he is the “iPhone generation.”

Earlier, state police Trooper Gerald Donovan admitted Unruh openly admitted deleting things before they handed over the phone, with the mom telling him it was just embarrassing material not connected to the case.

“The data she said she had altered had to do with fratboy activities. I did believe her,” Donovan told the court.

“I didn’t see anything that would raise concern that would be exculpatory for your client,” he told Jackson.

Judge Thomas Barrett had made Monday’s hearing the deadline for getting back the crucial iPhone.

“We could not locate the phone,” admitted accuser’s attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, insisting again that his clients did not remember getting it back from investigators.

The lawyer said they had a thumb drive of phone messages saved on a computer, but admitted, “Are there any deletions on it? I don’t know.”

Spacey’s attorney called it a “disaster,” saying, “No one knows what’s happening!”

“Guess who loses because of this? That would be us. Because we’re entitled to this phone,” Jackson said.

“Where is the actual phone? That’s what we want, that’s what we’re entitled to, and we don’t have it.”

Spacey, whose real name is Kevin Fowler, has been charged with indecent assault and battery. He has denied the allegations.

The hearing was set to continue Monday afternoon.