Kevin Guthrie | Image: Getty Images
Scottish actor Kevin Guthrie has been sentenced to three years in jail for sexual assault.
The actor who appeared in the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” franchise, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in an apartment in Glasgow, Scotland in 2017.
Guthrie denied the charge, telling the Glasgow Sheriff Court he had “helped” the woman after she fell ill, the BBC reported.
However, according to the BBC, the jury was told that Guthrie’s DNA was found inside the woman’s underwear.
The 33-year-old actor was found guilty after a four-day trial and was placed on the sex offenders register in Scotland indefinitely.
Tom Hughes, the sheriff of the court said: “The court must show that women can be protected from domestic sexual offenses. The offense you have been convicted of caused distress and consequences to the young woman involved in this case.”
“She was unwell and thought her drink had been spiked elsewhere that night,” Hughes continued.
“The jury accepted that you committed these heinous crimes and the only appropriate sentence is imprisonment.”
The incident happened on 30 September 2017, in the apartment of Scott Reid, a fellow actor.
The woman, 29, fell ill on the way to meeting both Reid and Guthrie and was helped into Reid’s home after arriving via taxi.
Reid called the National Health Service helpline and left Guthrie in the room with the woman. She told the court she remembered her shirt being removed and being groped before Guthrie assaulted her, the BBC reported. When Reid returned to the room, she said the assault stopped.
Guthrie played Mr. Abernathy in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and its sequel Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018). He’s also appeared in Dunkirk and the British Channel 4 series Misfits.