Bill Cosby charged in 2004 sexual assault case

Montgomery County prosecutors announced that he will be charged with first degree aggravated indecent assault.

Prosecutors reopened the case in which Cosby was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, at his Elkins Park, Penn., mansion in January 2004.

According to Kevin Steele, first assistant district attorney in Montgomery County, “The victim came to consider Mr. Cosby a mentor and a friend.” After multiple advances, Cosby gave her pills and wine, “the effect of which rendered her unable to move.”

The 12-year statute of limitations to charge the 78-year-old entertainer runs out in January. A previous district attorney declined to charge Cosby in 2005.

Cosby had said under oath that what happened between him and Constand was consensual, but in new court filings last summer, Constand said she was in a relationship with a woman at the time. According to Constand, Cosby, who she called a “narcissist,” missed cues that she is gay.

Constand, 42, is now a massage therapist in Ontario, Canada.

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Cosby has denied all of the allegations against him made by roughly 50 women over the years, some dating as far back as 1969. He filed defamation lawsuits against several of his accusers, who have filed defamation lawsuits of their own against him.

This is the first criminal charge against Cosby since his conduct with multiple women has come into the spotlight in the past year.

“Reopening this case was our duty … with a sworn obligation to uphold our Constitution and to uphold the law,” Steele said. “After examination … we are able to seek justice on behalf of the victim.”

Steele also urged that “anyone with any information on similar incidents with Mr. Cosby come forward.”

Cosby’s bail was set at $1 million Wednesday afternoon at his arraignment in Elkins Park. He also turned over his passport and a preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 14.

View the docket for the case filed today here.

The Montgomery County Office of the District Attorney posted a mug shot of Cosby on its Twitter account Wednesday afternoon.