AP
A Pennsylvania court found enough evidence to force Bill Cosby to stand trial for a 2004 sexual assault charge after portions of a decade-old deposition were released. The documents revealed the comedian admitted to drugging teenage girls and having sex with them.
The Associated Press released some of the testimony May 23, in which Cosby reveals he developed a romantic interest in a young actress and threatened to sue the National Enquirer if they went public with the story.
More damaging evidence surfaced when the actor admitted to giving Quaaludes – which he was prescribed for a sore back – to Therese Serignese in 1976 when she was 19. She claimed Cosby gave her the now banned sedative with a bottle of water before they had sex at a Las Vegas hotel.
“She meets me backstage. I give her quaaludes. We then have sex,” he stated.
Cosby also admitted an agency would send him “five or six” models as he filmed a sitcom in 2000. During a sexual encounter with one that year, he discusses having the teen masturbate him with lotion. He later talks about a 19-year-old actress he invited to his townhome for dinner. After he admits the pair lied down together on the sofa, he states no sexual behavior was initiated.
On May 24, CNN reports a Pennsylvania judge ordered Cosby to stand on trial for three aggravated indecent assault counts involving Andrea Constand’s 2004 case. A civil settlement was reached on the matter in 2006, but it was reopened when the deposition remarks were unveiled. The “I Spy” actor denied all allegations and sued Constand in February, stating she violated the terms of the case.
12 years ago, Constand was an employee of Temple University where the 78-year-old served as a trustee board member before resigning. She is one of more than 50 women who have accused him of sexual assault.
The exact trial date has not been set, but if Cosby is charged, he could face up to 30 years in prison. Though many of the other accuser’s statutes of limitations have run out in their state, Constand, – who was not in court – issued a statement to police in 2005 that is the center of the trial.
The 43-year-old’s statement was read by the prosecution’s first witness, Katherine Hart of the Montgomery County Detective Bureau. Constand told cops she was invited to the former television star’s home and encouraged to wear comfortable clothes. She was allegedly given two pills to “take the edge off” and sexually assaulted.
Cosby’s defense attorney, Brian McMonagle, was displeased that the trial was going forward.
“The evidence presented today was evidence of nothing. They had 12 years to bring an accuser to confront Mr. Cosby. They chose not to,” McMonagle said in court. “There was no evidence of a crime here. And the inconsistencies that plagued this investigation from the beginning continue to plague it now. This case should end immediately.”
McMongale questioned the reliability of Constand’s statement, and Hart acknowledged she was not there for Constand’s entire 2005 police statement.
