Kevin Spacey sued by alleged Nantucket groping victim

Kevin Spacey in court in January

Actor Kevin Spacey is being sued by a man he is charged with sexually assaulting at a Nantucket bar in 2016.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages over Spacey's alleged "explicit sexual behaviour and lewd and lascivious conduct" at The Club Car restaurant.

It states Spacey bought the man, then 18, alcoholic drinks and groped his genitals without his consent.

Prosecutors last year filed a related criminal case against Spacey - who denies the man's claims.

The Nantucket island allegations were first raised in 2017 by former television journalist Heather Unruh, who told reporters Spacey groped her teenage son.

• Kevin Spacey charged with sexual assault

• How the Kevin Spacey story unfolded

• What has #MeToo actually changed?

This week's civil lawsuit, filed on Wednesday at Nantucket Superior Court in Massachusetts, states Spacey had bought him several rounds of beer and whiskey and said at one point, "Let's get drunk".

The alleged incident occurred at The Club Car restaurant in Nantucket

As they stood next to a piano, Spacey groped him, he told investigators.

Mobile phone 'missing'

The civil suit adds to an eventful month in the case.

Spacey's lawyers have accused Unruh's son of deleting text messages that would support the actor's defence.

In January, the judge overseeing his criminal case ordered Spacey's accuser to provide his mobile phone to the defence.

But the man's attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, later told the court the accuser cannot find the phone.

The judge has ordered Unruh, Mr Garabedian and the accuser to attend a hearing on 8 July if it cannot be found.

The case against Spacey is one of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct he is facing as part of Hollywood's #MeToo scandal.

What were the other allegations?

The actor's career offers dried up after he was accused by actor Anthony Rapp in 2017 of making a sexual advance on him in 1986 when Mr Rapp was 14 years old.

Spacey said he had no memory of the event, but publicly apologised before issuing an "absolute" denial of all other allegations.

In September last year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said Spacey would not be prosecuted over an accusation of sexual assault that allegedly took place in 1992.

It said it fell outside of California's statute of limitations.

Mr Spacey posted a cryptic video in the style of his House of Cards character in December

UK police are also investigating several allegations that centre around Mr Spacey's time serving as artistic director at London's Old Vic theatre.

The controversy has led to the actor being axed from a number of roles, including Netflix series House of Cards and the 2017 film All the Money in the World, which was re-shot without him.

On Christmas Eve, Spacey posted a video contesting the allegations against him.

In the clip titled "Let Me Be Frank", Spacey appeared as his character Frank Underwood from House of Cards, and said: "I'm certainly not going to pay the price for the thing I didn't do."