Gary Busey pleads guilty to sex crimes charge
Actor Gary Busey has pleaded guilty to one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact after being charged in 2022.
The incident occurred on August 13th, 2022, at the Monster Mania convention at the Doubletree Hotel in the New Jersey suburb of Cherry Hill. Busey was charged shortly after the horror movie fan event.
He entered his plea over Zoom during a virtual court appearance before Judge Gwendolyn Blue on July 31st, per Court TV.
In the hearing, Busey admitted to the judge, “It was not an accidental touching.” The 81-year-old actor also struggled with his hearing during the virtual court appearance despite switching his hearing aid up “as loud as it will go”.
Due to the guilty plea, prosecutors will dismiss three additional counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact and one count of attempted fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, which also stemmed from the Monster Mania convention.
As a result of the plea agreement, Busey will face one to five years of probation and is also set to pay fines. Additionally, the actor now has a criminal record as a result of his guilty plea and will be required by law enforcement to submit a DNA sample.
Busey will be sentenced via Zoom on September 18th.
The Oscar-nominated actor, who has now pleaded guilty, previously denied the accusations when they first came to light in 2022, telling TMZ that his behaviour was “not inappropriate at all”. He added: “None of that happened. Nothing happened. Nothing. It was all false.”
Monster Mania previously said following the announcement of the charges: “Immediately upon receiving a complaint from the attendees, the celebrity guest was removed from the convention and instructed not to return.”
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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