NEW YORK – Man accuses Oscar-winning actor Kevin spacey of sexually abusing him in the 1980s, when he was 14, cannot proceed anonymously in court, a judge said on Monday.

US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan refused to let the man proceed only as a “CD” in a civil lawsuit filed in September in New York State court, then transferred to federal court.

The man had met Spacey in the actor’s New York suburban acting class before the alleged abuse, according to the lawsuit which seeks more than $ 40 million in damages.

Kaplan said CD’s interest in privacy did not outweigh the presumption of open court proceedings and the prejudice to Spacey’s defense that would occur if he could proceed anonymously. People with information that could support Spacey would also not be able to come forward, the judge added.

CD since the 1990s had spoken to an unknown number of people about his allegations against Spacey and apparently had cooperated on a New York magazine article that was posted on an online website, “Vulture”, in November 2017, Kaplan said.

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He said that “the evidence suggests that CD knowingly and repeatedly took the risk that either of these people would at one time or another reveal their true identity in a way that would portray that identity to the attention of the general public “.

Kaplan noted that CD had also recruited his co-plaintiff for the trial, Anthony rapp, who appeared in “Rent” on Broadway and in “Star Trek: Discovery” on television. The trial said the older actor made a sexual lead to teen Rapp at a 1980s party.

When Rapp first spoke publicly about his claim in 2017, others also went public and Spacey’s then famous career came to an abrupt end. At the time, Spacey released a statement saying he didn’t remember the meeting but apologized.

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The judge said lawyers for CD claim that using their client’s name will trigger post-traumatic stress disorder and that the resulting anxiety, nightmares and depression is a consequence that probably cannot be avoided as the case progressed and CD was eventually forced to testify in public. .

He gave lawyers 10 days to reveal CD’s name if he continued to make claims.

In a letter to the judge in early March, attorney Peter Saghir said CD felt “extreme anxiety and psychological distress at the very thought of being compelled to proceed publicly” and had reluctantly decided to abandon his claims. asks if Kaplan ordered him to proceed publicly.

Saghir and other CD lawyers did not return requests for comment on Monday. Neither did Spacey’s lawyers, who won a Oscar for best actor for his role in “American Beauty”, a 1999 film in which he played a frustrated suburban dad who covets his daughter’s best friend.

If CD drops its claims, it wouldn’t be the first to do so. Two years ago, man who said Spacey groped him at a Nantucket bar in 2016 dropped trial. A few days later, the criminal case against Spacey involving the man’s allegation collapsed when the accuser cited his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to testify in the case.

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Meanwhile, Police investigators in England have yet to say whether they will lay criminal charges against Spacey in connection with charges brought against him there for events alleged to have taken place between 1996 and 2013.

It is not known where exactly Spacey is. He didn’t say or do anything in public except posting quirky videos on Christmas Eve for a few years. He hasn’t worked as an actor since Rapp’s accusations emerged in 2017, and is never expected to work again.

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