DOCUMENT: Celebrity, Sex

Cosby Hit With Sex Assault Suit

Woman: Comedian drugged, molested her in his Pennsylvania home

Bill Cosby

View Document

Cosby Hit With Sex Assault Suit

UPDATE: Lawyer says 10 other women will testify about Cosby sex assaults

MARCH 8--Two weeks after Pennsylvania prosecutors declined to file criminal sexual assault charges against him, Bill Cosby was sued today by the woman who leveled those accusations against the 67-year-old comedian.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, the woman, Andrea Constand, alleges that Cosby drugged and molested her in January 2004 at the performer's Cheltenham home. Constand, who met Cosby in late-2002 when she worked at Temple University, contends that she agreed to go to the comedian's home after he called to say he "wanted to offer her assistance in her pursuit of a different career."

Constand (seen at right) claims that when she told Cosby that she was "feeling stressed" about career decisions, he offered her three blue pills, which he described as herbal medication that would relax her.

Instead, she charges, the pills left her "barely conscious" with her limbs feeling immobile. It was then, Constand alleges in her complaint, that Cosby--whom she considered a mentor--laid her down on a sofa and proceeded to sexually assault her. She awoke hours later to discover her clothes and undergarments in disarray. Constand adds that she was greeted by a bathrobe-clad Cosby.

Constand did not report the alleged attack to police for nearly a year, which was likely a major factor in the decision by Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor not to file charges against Cosby. Constand's lawsuit charges Cosby with battery, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and seeks a minimum of $150,000 in damages for each of the complaint's five counts. (17 pages)