LONDON (AP) — British prosecutors said Thursday they had authorized police to charge actor Kevin Spacey with four counts of sexual assault against three men, an announcement that came as the actor was in court in New York testifying in a different case.

The Crown Prosecution Service said it had "authorized criminal charges" on the four sex assault counts and one of "causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent."

The alleged incidents took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in western England in April 2013. The alleged victims are now in the...