California investigation adds to three already active against the Oscar-winning actor in London

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing sexual assault allegations against the actor Kevin Spacey, it has emerged.

The police investigation in California adds to three already active in London against the two-time Oscar-winner.

Prosecutors from the Los Angeles district attorney’s industry sex crimes task force are considering whether to bring a charge over a claim that Spacey attacked a man in West Hollywood in October 1992.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman, Nicole Nishida, said the force’s special victims bureau began an investigation into “allegations of a sexual assault involving Mr Kevin Spacey on 11 December 2017”.

“The events were reported to have taken place in October of 1992 in West Hollywood involving a male adult,” she said.

The district attorney spokesman, Greg Risling, confirmed the investigation and said the case was handed to prosecutors on 5 April for review.

Scotland Yard has been investigating allegations of sexual assault on three men in London, from 2005 to 2008.

Spacey, 58, was one of the first stars to face public allegations amid the downfall of the film producer Harvey Weinstein.

The actor Anthony Rapp was the first to make an allegation, claiming he was 14 when a 26-year-old Spacey made a sexual advance on him in 1986. Spacey said he did not remember the encounter but apologised for any “inappropriate drunken behaviour”.

The Old Vic theatre in London, where Spacey was artistic director from 2004 to 2015, later found that 20 people alleged they had been subjected to inappropriate behaviour by Spacey.

The US actor was subsequently sacked from Netflix’s House of Cards and Ridley Scott scrubbed Spacey from a completed film, All The Money In The World, with reshoots costing millions.

A spokeswoman for Spacey’s legal team declined to comment on the latest investigation.