Kevin Spacey Accuser Will Not Attend Nantucket Arraignment

NANTUCKET, MA – The man Kevin Spacey is accused of groping at a Nantucket restaurant will not be at the actor's arraignment next week. Former Boston news anchor Heather Unruh, who accused the 59-year-old Oscar winner of indecent assault on her son, told NBC News she and her son will not attend the hearing Monday in Nantucket District Court.

Unruh said her family will not make any statements until trial in order to "preserve the integrity of the case."

One person who is required to be in attendance? Spacey himself. A judge last week denied the actor's request to be excused from Monday's hearing. Spacey's attorneys argued that his presence would "amplify the negative publicity already generated in connection with this case."

Spacey has said he will plead not guilty to felony indecent assault and battery. The allegations were first brought in November 2017, when Unruh told reporters that Spacey groped her son during a chance encounter in the crowded bar of the Club Car restaurant in 2016. Her son was 18 years old at the time.

Neither Spacey nor his lawyers have addressed the allegation publicly, but the actor released a video last week in the voice of Frank Underwood, his character on Netflix's "House of Cards" in which he said, "I'm certainly not going to pay the price for the thing I didn't do."

It was unclear whether he was addressing the criminal charge.

Spacey's attorneys have also questioned the evidence against him.

Los Angeles-based attorney Alan Jackson noted during a hearing that Unruh's son did not report the allegations to police right way, lied about his age saying he was 23, and said he was so intoxicated he may have blacked out shortly after Spacey allegedly groped him, according to an audio recording of the hearing obtained by The Boston Globe.

Unruh told reporters that her son didn't report the assault at the time because he was embarrassed and scared. Her family decided to come forward after others went public with allegations of sexual misconduct against Spacey and other celebrities, she said.

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(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for MPTF)