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Bill Cosby charged with indecent assault | Bill Cosby charged with indecent assault |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Prosecutors in the US have charged comedian Bill Cosby with aggravated indecent assault over an alleged incident in 2004. | |
It is the first time Mr Cosby, 78, has been charged with any offence after months of accusations. | |
Andrea Constand says she was drugged then assaulted at the Philadelphia home of the former US television star. | |
Dozens of women have accused him of sexual assault, dating back to the 1970s, but he has denied wrongdoing. | |
Earlier this month he opened a lawsuit against seven of the women, accusing them of defamation. | |
Prosecution allegations | Prosecution allegations |
It is the second time there has been an investigation into Ms Constand's complaint against the actor, who won acclaim for playing a family doctor and model father in The Cosby Show. | |
In 2005, after no charges were brought when she first made the accusation, she sued him and settled for an undisclosed sum. | |
He has previously said under oath he had a consensual sexual encounter with her. | |
Mr Cosby befriended Ms Constand through her job at Temple University and she came to think of him as "a mentor and a friend" before he allegedly made two sexual advances that were rejected, said prosecutors. | |
Documents from her lawsuit against the star were sealed until this summer, when damaging testimony was revealed as more women came forward. | |
The 12-year statute of limitations was only days away from expiring, in January 2016. | |
Kevin Steele, district attorney for Montgomery County, said they reopened the Constand case after "new information came to light". | |
The prosecutors re-interviewed witnesses, examined evidence from the civil case and spoke to other alleged victims before they decided to file criminal charges, Mr Steele's office said in a statement. | |
In testimony seen by the New York Times and published in July, Mr Cosby admitted he did sometimes give women a sedative, Quaaludes, when he wanted to have sex with them, but not without their knowledge. | |
At the height of his fame from The Cosby Show, the comedian was the highest paid entertainer on US television. | At the height of his fame from The Cosby Show, the comedian was the highest paid entertainer on US television. |