Facebook/Will Little
Former ABC Boston anchor Heather Unruh has said that her son was “afraid and embarrassed” to come forward with allegations that he had been sexually assaulted by Kevin Spacey in July 2016. On November 8 at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Boston, Unruh sat with her daughter, Kyla, and their lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian and came forward with the accusation her son Will Little, 19, had been abused by Spacey, 58, on the island of Nantucket.
Unruh tweeted on October 13, in the midst of the first allegations against Harvey Weinstein, that Spacey had “assaulted a loved one.”
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Unruh Said, ‘I Think Kevin Spacey Deserves to Go to Prison’
Unruh told the media that her son met Spacey at the Club Car restaurant in Nantucket in July 2016. She alleges that Spacey gave her son, who was then 18, alcohol and then tried to put his hand into the teen’s pants. “This was completely unexpected,” Unrush told the media. After that, Unruh says her son went to the bathroom where a “concerned woman” told him to get out of the restaurant. Little proceeded to run home to his grandmother’s home where he woke up his sister and told her about the incident.
Unruh addressed that concerned woman saying, “I would love you to please come forward. My family will always be eternally grateful that when you saw something you thought was very wrong, that you acted. And we would very much like to thank you in person.”
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Unruh, speaking to Spacey at the press conference, “Shame on your for what you did to my son.” The former anchor added that Little “is a very strong young man. He does his best to deal with it, but it’s always there.” Unruh went on to describe her son’s mentality on the night of the alleged incident, “[He was a] star-struck, straight, 18-year-old young man, who had no idea that the famous actor was an alleged sexual predator or that he was about to become his next victim.”
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Little has filed a police report and supplied evidence to the Nantucket Police Department, according to Unruh. Unruh said, “He’s committed to doing what he can to stop Kevin Spacey from victimizing anyone else.” She added that at the time of the incident the family contacted the sheriff of Nantucket, who asked that Little make an official complaint. Unrah said, “I definitely think [Spacey] deserves to go to prison. He should go to prison.”
2. Little Is a Sophomore in College
Facebook/Will LittleLittle pictured with Patriots star Rob Gronkowski in 2012.
According to his Facebook page, Will Little is a student at a private university in northern North Carolina. Little attended high school just outside of Boston and grew up in Dover, Massachusetts. During the November 8 press conference, Unruh said that her son was sophomore in college.
3. In a July 2016 Video, a YouTuber Described Having Drinks with Spacey at the Club Car Restaurant
On July 8, 2016, YouTuber Charles Cather uploaded a video titled, “Our Encounter With Kevin Spacey.” In the video, Cather talks about meeting Spacey at the Club Car restaurant and having drinks with him. Cather describes the experience in a positive light. He writes in the YouTube description, “What a wonderful guy he is! If anyone deserves to be famous, it’s him! Class act!” On July 12, the Boston Globe reported that Kevin Spacey “has also been enjoying life on Nantucket of late.”
At the November 8 press conference, Unruh said, “I know at least one other person who was on Nantucket who was also a target of Spacey’s.”
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A Club Car restaurant spokesperson, Ty Costa, told the Boston Globe after hearing about the allegations:
Unruh is a cherished member of our local Boston community and it’s difficult to imagine this unfolding national scandal would hit home here. Club Car is an iconic establishment on Nantucket Island. We purchased it after the close of the 2016 season, and therefore after this unfortunate incident.
We uphold the highest standards for safety and service. Underage drinking is prohibited at our restaurant. Our hearts go out to all the victims involved in the Kevin Spacey scandal and, of course, Ms. Unruh and her son.
TwitterHeather Unruh pictured on her Twitter page.
In an interview with Nantucket Magazine in April 2016, Heather Unruh spoke of her love of the island. Unruh described her ideal family day saying, “It’s off to the beach with the kids if we’re lucky (They’re teenagers) and later a spirited game of cards after mom’s amazing home cooking.”
4. Spacey Says He’s Seeking Treatment for Issues After Anthony Rapp’s Allegations that Spacey Assaulted Him
Actor Anthony Rapp was the first to allege abuse by Spacey. Rapp said that at a party in Spacey’s house in the 1980s, the House of Cards star made sexual advances. At the time Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. In a statement, Spacey said through a publicist that he was seeking treatment for issues. Spacey’s initial statement came in for fierce criticism after the actor was accused of trying to cover up the abuse by coming out as a homosexual.
Since then, director Tony Montana came forward with an allegation against Spacey to Radar Online that occurred in a bar in Los Angeles. While in a Facebook post, actor Roberto Cavazos who worked with Spacey in London at the Old Vic theater said, “It seems the only requirement was to be a male under the age of 30 for Mr. Spacey to feel free to touch us.” An unnamed person said in a Vulture interview said he had a sexual relationship with Spacey when the anonymous person was 14 and Spacey was 24.
Heather Unruh said on November 8 that it was painful to watch Spacey host the Tony Awards. Unruh told the media, “Now the climate in this country is changing. There’s a shift. The timing was everything. I think a lot of us felt a lot less fear of how my son would be treated.” Unruh said that she has been in touch with another of Spacey’s accusers, Harry Dreyfuss and his family. The former anchor said of the victims, “Some of them have been suffering this for decades and haven’t told anyone, until they told me. They’ve got a long way to go.”
5. Little Is Represented by the Lawyer Made Famous by the Movie Spotlight
Lawyer Mitchell Garabedian said at the November 8 press conference that he looking into bringing a civil or criminal case against Spacey. He told the media, “We all know victims of sexual abuse can only come forward when they’re emotionally ready to come forward, whether that be when they’re 18 or 88. I represented victims in the late 1930s for instance, who only recently have come forward in the last five years.”
Garabedian is best known for representing the victims of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal popularized in the Oscar-winning movie Spotlight. Garabedian was played in the movie by Stanley Tucci. The movie shows that it was Garabedian who provided journalist Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo) with a key piece of information that led to the publication of the story.
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