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Bill Cosby was charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting a Temple University employee at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004.
Montgomery County Prosecutor Kevin Steele announced the aggravated indecent assault case against the creepy comedian at a spellbinding press conference that dealt the most devastating blow yet to Cosby's once-wholesome image as America's Dad.
“The evidence is strong,” Steele said. "We made this determination because it was the right thing to do."
The new case marks the first criminal prosecution of the fallen funnyman and sets the stage for what could be a blockbuster trial involving other accusers with similar stories.
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Bill Cosby booking photo after being charged with sexually assaulting a Temple University employee at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004.
Cosby, 78, faces up to a decade behind bars if convicted. He walked into the courtroom for his arraignment using a cane and wore a gray hoodie sweater.
He replied yes several times to Magistrate Judge Elizabeth McHugh in Montgomery County as she set his bail at $1 million and ordered him to hand over his passport.
He did not enter a plea and is due back in court Jan. 14.
“Make no mistake, we intend to mount a vigorous defense against this unjustified charge and we expect that Mr. Cosby will be exonerated,” Cosby’s attorneys said in a statement.
Authorities said in an affidavit that Cosby made two separate and unwanted sexual advances on victim Andrea Constand in the months leading up to the January 2004 assault.
Constand, who worked with Temple’s women’s basketball team, stepped forward a decade ago and said Cosby doped and groped her, but prosecutors at the time declined to file charges citing a lack of evidence.
KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images
Bill Cosby arrives in court to be arraigned in Elkins Park, Pa. on Wednesday.
The affidavit made public Wednesday said Constand returned to his home on the day of the assault thinking they were going to discuss her career. Instead, Cosby offered her three blue pills to “take the edge off” and urged her to drink wine, according to the paperwork.
"These will make you feel good. The blue things will take the edge off,” Cosby said, according to documents.
Constand asked if the pills were herbal.
“Yes,” Cosby allegedly replied, according to the affidavit. “Down them. Put ‘em down. Put them in your mouth.”
“Just taste the wine,” he urged her afterwards, according to documents.
She later claimed to have experienced blurred vision and difficulty speaking and was unable to consent when Cosby had sex with her, the affidavit states.
View GalleryWomen who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault
Constand passed out and eventually woke up around 4 a.m. the next day with her bra undone, according to the affidavit.
Cosby, dressed in a robe, gave her a muffin, walked to the front door, opened it and said, “Alright,” the paperwork states.
Ron Bull/AP
Andrea Constand in 1987.
Constand told investigators she left the residence without saying anything.
After the alleged assault, Constand fled to Canada to be near family and eventually told her mom what happened. The mom confronted Cosby over the telephone.
Cosby admitted the encounter during their conversation, said he gave Constand some type of "prescription" medication and invited the women on an all-expenses-paid trip to Florida, the affidavit states.
Cosby later gave an interview to Cheltenham Township police in January 2005 and claimed the sexual encounter was consensual, according to the affidavit.
He admitting giving Constand one and a half over-the-counter Benadryl pills and claimed she willingly engaged in petting and kissing and "never pushed him away," the affidavit states.
“When directly asked if he ever had sexual intercourse with the victim, Cosby gave (police) the unusual answer, ‘never asleep or awake,’” the affidavit claims.
KING:
Constand sued Cosby in 2005 and settled out of court in 2006.
Victoria Will/Victoria Will/Invision/AP
Over 50 women have accused Bill Cosby of drugging and assaulting them.
MARK BLINCH/REUTERS
Constand, who has accused Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting her, walks in a park in Toronto, Canada, on Wednesday, the same day a Pennsylvania prosecutor announced sexual assault charges against the comedian stemming from their alleged 2004 encounter at his Philadelphia mansion.
Bill Cosby is accused of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand (r.) in 2004. He was arraigned in a Montgomery County, Pa. court Wednesday and released on $1 million bail.
In deposition testimony related to the civil lawsuit, Cosby said under oath that he gave Constand three halved pills that he described as "three friends to make (her) relax," according to the affidavit.
He also acknowledged under oath that he obtained seven prescriptions in his own name for Quaaludes.
CNN
Montgomery County Prosecutor Kevin Steele announced the charges against Cosby.
"When you go 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?" Constand's lawyer asked Cosby on Sept. 29, 2005, according to the deposition excerpted in the affidavit.
"Yes," Cosby replied.
Constand has said she will cooperate with prosecutors in the new case, Steele said.
"He urged her to take pills he provided and drink wine," Steele said during the press conference. "Unable to move or respond to his advances, he committed aggravated indecent assault.
View GalleryCelebrity mug shots
"Frozen, paralyzed, unable to move. A person in that state is unable to consent," Steele added.
Her attorneysreleased a statementthanking Montgomery County authorities for "the consideration and courtesy they have shown Andrea during this difficult time."
Cosby has said the sex was consensual.
Authorities had until next month to file charges against Cosby under the state's 12-year statute of limitations for felony sexual assault.
A judge unsealed depositions in Constand's suit filed in Philadelphia federal court earlier this year, prompting prosecutors to reopen her case.
"We examined evidence from the civil case and information from other alleged victims," Steele said.
“Reopening this case was not a question. Rather, reopening this was our duty.”
He said Cosby's prior testimony about obtaining and distributing Quaaludes, which Cosby called "disco biscuits" during his deposition in the Constand case, played a significant role in the charging decision.
Over 50 women have accused Cosby of assaulting them. They have shared similar stories in which Cosby targeted them after gaining their trust and using his trusted public persona to his advantage.
Cosby has denied the accusations and said the women are out to get money.
His career irreparably damaged, Cosby has fought back in the last month by filing defamation suits against some of his accusers.
sbrown@nydailynews.com
Tags:bill cosby ,sex crimes ,pennsylvania
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