Bill Cosby sexual assault cases

In his testimony, Cosby admitted to casual sex involving recreational use of the sedative-hypnotic methaqualone (Quaaludes) with a series of young women, albeit with their full consent & knowledge, and he acknowledged that his dispensing of the prescription drug was illegal.

[10][11][12] In December 2015, three Class II felony charges of aggravated indecent assault were filed against Cosby in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania,[13] based on allegations by Constand concerning incidents in January 2004.

[14] Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault at retrial on April 26, 2018[15] and on September 25, 2018, he was sentenced to three to ten years in state prison and fined $25,000 plus the cost of the prosecution, $43,611.

[27][28][29] On February 1, 2000, according to a statement provided by Detective Jose McCallion of the New York County District Attorney's Special Victims Bureau, Lachele Covington, who was 20 years old at the time, filed a criminal complaint against Cosby alleging that on January 28, 2000, at his Manhattan townhouse, he had tried to put her hands down his pants and then exposed himself.

[30] In January 2004, Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, accused Cosby of drugging and fondling her; however, in February 2005, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania's District Attorney said there would be no charges due to insufficient credible and admissible evidence.

[37] In a July 2005 Philadelphia Daily News interview, Beth Ferrier, one of the anonymous "Jane Doe" witnesses in the Constand case, alleged that in 1984 Cosby had drugged her coffee and she awoke with her clothes partially removed.

[39] On June 9, 2006, Philadelphia magazine published an article by Robert Huber which gave graphic detail about Constand's allegations, and the similar stories told by Green and Ferrer about how they too were drugged and sexually assaulted.

[42] On October 16, 2014, as part of a stand-up comedy routine in Philadelphia, Hannibal Buress addressed Cosby's legacy of "talk[ing] down" to young black men about their mode of dress and lifestyle.

[64] According to Vox, the stories span "more than five decades" and are "remarkably similar, typically involving the comedian offering a woman a cup of coffee or some sort of alcoholic beverage—which may be spiked with drugs—and allegedly sexually assaulting the victim as she's impaired or unconscious.

[108][109] In the court filing condemning the release of the deposition, Cosby's attorneys stressed that none of the testimony that was actually unsealed by a judge stated that he engaged in non-consensual sex or gave anyone Quaaludes without their knowledge or consent.

His lawyers made a similar request in federal court in Massachusetts earlier, but that motion was denied by Judge David H. Hennessy, who likened these efforts to putting the "toothpaste back in the tube" since Cosby's testimony had already been in the news for months.

[133] On December 16, 2014, after a ten-day investigation, Los Angeles prosecutors declined to file any charges against Cosby after Judith Huth claimed the comedian molested her around 1974 at the Playboy Mansion.

[143] Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault at retrial on April 26, 2018[144] and on September 25, 2018, he was sentenced to three to ten years in state prison and fined $25,000 plus the cost of the prosecution, $43,611.

[32] In a July 2005 Philadelphia Daily News interview, Beth Ferrier, one of the anonymous "Jane Doe" witnesses in the Constand case, alleged that in 1984 Cosby drugged her coffee and she awoke with her clothes partially removed.

[166] On October 20, 2015, American International Group (AIG) filed legal papers to try to put a stay on the litigation, pending a court declaration of whether the insurance company had a duty to defend Cosby as well as pay for any actual damages won.

[174] Lawyers representing the alleged victims planned on deposing Quincy Jones, who, as a friend and collaborator of Cosby for more than fifty years, may have had information vital to the plaintiffs' case.

Her complaint states, in part, "It is one thing for an accused sexual assailant to remain silent and allow the legal process, or public opinion, to run its course, but it is quite another for him to unleash his agents to deny that he attacked the plaintiff and other women, to invite others to republish his statements, and to brand them as unreliable liars."

Even though the incident occurred more than forty years previously, California laws allow alleged child sexual abuse victims to bring their cases forward as an adult.

[212] On April 14, 2016, Cosby's lawyers filed a motion to dismiss Huth's lawsuit claiming that she changed her timeline regarding her "delayed discovery" of psychological injury or illness related to the alleged abuse.

[225][226] On October 14, 2021, Actress Lili Bernard filed a lawsuit under the state of New Jersey 2 year look back period, which allows victims of sexual assault to sue regardless of when the offense took place.

"[267] Around the time of these interviews, Cosby's lawyers began sending sharply worded letters to publications that wrote about the sexual assault allegations, threatening them with legal action and using phrases like "proceed at your own peril" if they published certain stories.

[235] Subsequent to his arraignment on three felony charges based on the Constand case, Cosby tweeted the following message on December 30, 2015, using his Twitter account: "Friends and fans, Thank You [sic].

[292] On July 7, 2015, Walt Disney World removed a statue of Bill Cosby that had been featured as part of the Hollywood Studios park's "Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame Plaza".

[294] The critically panned show, which had been planned since 2012 and partly underwritten by $716,000 in tax-deductible donations to the museum by Bill and Camille Cosby (who sits on the NMAA's board), is titled "Conversations" and includes 62 works lent by the couple.

It was painted over after being defaced with graffiti reading "rapist" and "dude with ludes", referencing the recently unsealed 2005 deposition in which the comedian admitted to obtaining Quaaludes to give to women with the intention of having sex with them.

The museum, which opened September 24, included the cover of a comedy album by the Philadelphia-native Cosby and a comic book from his pioneering TV drama I Spy as part of its exhibit on black entertainers and artists.

Schmitt criticized the university for an apparent effort to lend "gratuituous support" to defamation suits pending against Cosby, citing what he called the school's unfounded claim that the entertainer has a "longtime strategy of denigrating the reputations of women who accused him of such actions".

[345] On September 15, 2015, Cosby accusers Beth Ferrier, Heidi Thomas, and Helen Hayes met with State Representative Rhonda Fields, 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler, and others at the Capitol in Denver, Colorado.

Under the bill, new victims coming forward could be used as evidence to reopen a case, said Aaron Knott, the legislative director for Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum.

[352] It was supported by women's / LGBT rights activist Ivy Bottini and Dr. Caroline Heldman who are also involved in a campaign called #EndRapeSOL to eliminate the statute of limitations on rape in other states.