For years, women — dozens of them — have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault, with incidents dating to the 1960s. Now, for the first time, Cosby is facing criminal charges in connection with an accusation of sexual assault, Montgomery County prosecutors in Pennsylvania announced on Wednesday.
Prosecutors charged Cosby with aggravated indecent assault, said Kevin Steele, first assistant district attorney.
Reporters soon descended on the small courthouse in Elkins Park, waiting for hours until Cosby arrived in a gray, hooded sweater Wednesday afternoon for his arraignment.
Cosby, 78, approached the courthouse slowly with a cane, walking with Brian McMonagle, his defense attorney, and Monique Pressley, his attorney and spokeswoman, beside him. He didn’t comment to the media.
Inside the tiny courthouse, Cosby said little as he surrendered his bent and wrinkled passport. When Magisterial District Judge Elizabeth McHugh asked Cosby if he understood that, as a condition of bail, he was to have no contact with the victim, he gave the judge a big smile and said, “yes.”
The comedian also was instructed not to tweet or have any relatives comment on the victim.
Cosby’s bail was set at $1 million, and he was required to post 10 percent of that amount, which he did.
The judge set a preliminary hearing for Jan. 14, and said that it was likely that hearing would be at the Montgomery County courthouse in Norristown.
After the arraignment, Cosby left the courthouse for his next stop: the Cheltenham Police Department for booking. As he arrived there, a small crowd yelled that the comedian is a “monster.”
The charge, a second-degree felony, stems from an alleged sexual assault in early 2004. Steele initially said the charge against Cosby was a first-degree felony, but the district attorney’s office corrected that statement.
“Today, after examination of all the evidence, we are able to seek justice on behalf of the victim,” Steele said. Prosecutors launched a new investigation into the allegations against Cosby after new information about the case emerged in July, he said. The 12-year statute of limitations to file felony charges in connection to those allegations expires in January.
According to the criminal complaint, Cosby faces three counts of the indecent assault charge: assault without consent, assault when the complainant is unconscious or unaware that penetration is occurring, and assault when the person impairs the complainant.
It was the second investigation to examine allegations that the comedian drugged and assaulted former Temple University employee Andrea Constand in 2004. Constand first accused Cosby a year after the alleged assault, but at the time, prosecutors declined to press charges.
On the evening in question, Cosby urged her to take pills that he provided her and to drink wine, the effect of which rendered her unable to move,” Steele said to reporters, later saying the pills rendered the victim frozen, and paralyzed. That was when Cosby allegedly assaulted her.
Legal experts said prosecuting the case will be challenging because of the passage of time. But prosecutors could persuade the judge to allow evidence of similar allegations made against Cosby by women around the country to become part of their case in Philadelphia.
“The passage of time might have had a net positive result for the prosecutors,” said Barry Coburn, a former federal prosecutor who works as a defense lawyer.
Under rules of evidence in Pennsylvania, prosecutors can introduce allegations brought by the other women if those allegations establish a mode of operation or pattern of behavior by Cosby. While a judge could rule against prosecutors, the process of determining whether that evidence is admissible will involve court hearings and never-before-heard testimony from the other alleged victims of the famed comedian and father figure.
Gloria Allred, an attorney representing 29 women who have accused Cosby of assault, told MSNBC that the charges against the comedian are the “best Christmas present” many of her clients “have ever received.”
According to the district attorney’s office, Cosby faces a maximum penalty of five to 10 years and a $25,000 fine.
The troubled history of comedian and entertainer Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby is accused of sexually assaulting then-Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his home outside Philadelphia in early 2004.
CONSTAND TOLD POLICE
WHAT COSBY SAID HAPPENED, ACCORDING TO CONSTAND’S MOTHER
On Jan. 16, 2005, Cosby returns a call from Constand’s mother. Her account of a portion of the conversation:
