英國副議長涉嫌性侵7名男子辭職

A deputy speaker of Britain's parliament has been charged with several counts of sexual assault as well as rape, authorities said on Tuesday.

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said enough evidence had been gathered to prosecute Nigel Evans, a member of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party, for eight offences.

Fifty-five year old Evans, who has been the MP for Ribble Valley in Lancashire in northern England since 1992 and was arrested twice earlier this year, has denied any wrongdoing.

"Lancashire Constabulary has ... been authorised to charge two counts of indecent assault, five counts of sexual assault and one count of rape relating to a total of seven alleged victims," the prosecution service said in a statement.

The assaults, dating from 2002 until 2013, were all on men.

Without citing sources, the BBC said Evans had resigned as deputy speaker but this could not immediately be verified.

Evans was detained in May on suspicion of rape and sexual assault but said the allegations were "completely false".

Police said he was arrested for a second time in June.

One of parliament's three deputy speakers since 2010, Evans' role includes keeping order during often fractious debates, calling on members to speak and enforcing the rules of the lower House of Parliament.

Evans, who told a newspaper in 2010 that he was gay, was vice chairman of the Conservative party from 1999 to 2001 and shadow Welsh Secretary for two years after that while the Conservatives were in opposition.

He is due to appear before Preston Magistrates Court on Sept. 18.據英國媒體報道，英國國會下議院副議長奈傑爾•埃文斯被控性侵和強姦而於9月10日第三次被捕後宣佈辭職。

當天，55歲的埃文斯在普雷斯頓警察局接受了長時間審訊。他離開警察局時就昏暗的天空對記者開玩笑說：“現在還是週二（9月10日）嗎？”

他接着說：“我此時此刻可以向每個人保證，我將堅決捍衛我的清白。在遭到可疑指控後，我今天繳納了保釋金。對於這起案子今天還未結束我感到悲哀。我可以肯定兩件事，第一我是清白無辜的，第二，我的清白將大白於天下。”

他表示已經通知其他同事，辭去副議長職務，但將繼續保留議員身份。

英國皇家檢察署表示已蒐集到足夠的證據起訴埃文斯8項罪行，包括2起猥褻，5次性侵和1次強姦，受害者7人，均爲20多歲的年輕男性。這些行爲被指發生在2002年到2013年，其中強姦行爲據稱就發生在今年年初。

英國總檢察長基爾•斯塔梅爾說：“繼蘭開夏警方展開調查後，皇家檢察署收到了奈傑爾•埃文斯議員性侵的證據。經過仔細考慮，我們認爲證據是充分的，且起訴埃文斯符合公共利益。”

埃文斯今年早些時候曾兩度被捕，第一次是在5月，第二次是在6月，但他矢口否認自己有任何不當行爲。

埃文斯將於9月18日出庭受審，若罪行成立，最高可判終身監禁。對他的審判預期在明年春或夏初進行，這將是保守黨戰略家的主要關注事務，因爲屆時2015年英國大選迫在眉睫。

2010年，埃文斯曾向媒體公開他是同性戀，他說自己“疲於生活在謊言裏”。他曾說他的政敵曾以曝光此來對他進行威脅。

埃文斯16歲加入了保守黨，1992年起任議員，1999到2001年出任保守黨副主席。2010年。他成爲英國國會下議院3名副議長之一，職責包括在激烈辯論中維持秩序，敦促成員發言，執行下議院規則。