American comedian, Bill Cosby, has been charged with aggravated indecent assault, a first degree felony.
The actor was issued an arrest warrant for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, at his Elkins Park, Pennsylvania mansion, USA in January 2004.
Montgomery Country officials released a statement on Wednesday morning saying they interviewed witnesses and examined evidence before issuing the warrant and are now able to “seek justice on behalf of the victim.”
A judge originally dismissed the case in 2005; however, the charges filed on Wednesday are a result of new evidence that came to light beginning in July 2015.
The case was re-opened after it was determined that the statute of limitations regarding the potential criminal offense had not yet expired.
According to the evidence, Cosby had established a relationship with Constand and invited her to his Philadelphia home, but when he made sexual advances toward her, she refused. He then urged her to drink wine and take three blue pills after which she lost total mobility, and he took advantage of her.
The paperwork that was unsealed also details Cosby’s 2005 deposition, including the moment when he was asked by the Constand’s attorney, “When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?”
Cosby replied, “Yes.” The 78-year-old also testified that he gave Constand three half-pills of Benadryl, all of which he claimed to have given her with her consent.
However, in new court filings last summer, Constand said she was in a relationship with a woman at the time. She also called Cosby a “narcissist” who missed cues that she’s gay.
So far, more than 50 women have accused the entertainer of drugging and/or sexually assaulting them. Yet, Cosby has vehemently denied all of the allegations.
The warrant comes just two weeks after Cosby filed defamation lawsuits against several of those accusers, who have filed lawsuits of their own against him.
