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A massage therapist suing Kevin Spacey for sexual battery has won his battle to remain anonymous.
The unidentified man filed a lawsuit against the disgraced Oscar winner last year (18), accusing him of misconduct during a massage session at a private residence in Malibu, California in 2016.
According to Variety, on Wednesday (15May19), a federal judge ruled his identity should be kept private as he pursued his case.
The male masseuse alleged The Usual Suspects actor tried to kiss him and forced him to grab his genitals.
Spacey's attorneys had asked Judge Ronald Lew to dismiss the lawsuit as the plaintiff filed his complaint anonymously, but Lew ruled that as a sexual assault victim in a high-profile case he should remain anonymous to protect his privacy.
"Plaintiff's vulnerability to humiliation, harassment, and threats, is further exacerbated by the nature of Defendant's status as a high-profile celebrity and the media attention that comes with it," Lew wrote. "The Court finds that anonymity is necessary to protect Plaintiff's privacy and to protect against any further trauma."
However, he said he may revisit the anonymity order if it prevented lawyers from conducting discovery when building their case.
The complaint was originally filed in Los Angeles, but the 59-year-old star's legal team moved the case to federal court as he lives in Maryland.
Spacey also faces a criminal charge in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in which he has pleaded not guilty to groping a waiter in 2016.
The film and theatre star's career came crashing down in 2017 when fellow actor Anthony Rapp accused him of making sexual advances towards him when he was still a teenager. Other accusers in the U.S. and the U.K., where the star worked as artistic director of the Old Vic theatre, subsequently came forward, costing him roles in the Netflix drama House of Cards and Ridley Scott's movie All The Money in the World.