Bill Cosby has been charged with sexual assault following an alleged 2004 sexual assault in Pennsylvania.
Bill Cosby, whose legacy as a Civil Rights leader, comedian and entrepreneur has been tarnished following multiple accusations of sexual assault is now facing one felony charge of aggravated indecent assault.
This is the very first criminal charge against Bill Cosby since the allegations first arose. Bill Cosby has continuously denied any wrongdoing.
The district attorney did not name the victim, however he revealed that the facts of the case match previous allegations from a former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, who accused Bill Cosby of drugging and fondling her in January 2004.
Constand would later settle a civil case against Bill Cosby in 2006.
So why, 11 years later, is Bill Cosby facing charges?
Pennsylvania has a 12-year statute of limitations for sexual assault cases, a window that closes next year.
Bill Cosby’s history of alleged sexual assault.
Bill Cosby has been hit with dozens of sexual assault allegations. More than 40 women have come forward to accuse Cosby publicy. The 78 year old actor is accused of sexual assault women for over 40 years, most of them saying he drugged them first.
What is Bill Cosby doing about it?
Bill Cosby filed a countersuit this month against seven women who had accused him of sexual assault and sued him for defamation. Bill Cosby said that the women’s accusations have hurt his repuation so much that his new NBC TV series was cancelled.
Earlier this month, Bill Cosby sued Beverly Johnson, an African American supermodel who accused Bill Cosby in 2014 of sexual misconduct that she says happened several years ago. Johnson argues that the comedian tried to rape her after drugging her insider her New York home nearly forty years ago.
Bill Cosby’s lawsuit says Johnson joined several other women making accusations against him to revie her dying career and to help sell copies of her new book.
The lawsuit also alleges defmation and intention infliction of emotional stress, arguing Cosby and Johnson never spent any time alone in his house, he never drugged her and “her story is a lie.”
“I am aware of the statements from Bill Cosby,” Johnson said in a statement. “In cases of rape and abuse, abusers will do whatever they can to intimidate and weaken their victims to force them to stop fighting. I ask for your support of all of the victims involved.”
Hollywood is plagued with sexual assault and sexual predator cases. In fact, just yesterday, Glee star was arrested for after his home was raided earlier this month. Cops allegedly found hundreds of indecent images on his computer featuring children, according to TMZ. Mark Salling played Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman in the hit Fox series.
