Bill Cosby sued by 5 women for ‘drugging, groping and raping them’ since 1969
Bill Cosby has been hit with another series of sexual assault and rape allegations, with five women filing lawsuits on Monday in New York, taking advantage of a new temporary extension to the statute of limitations.
Five women claim the comedian, now 85, assaulted them between 1969 and 1991.
The statute of limitations in New York for second-degree rape is 20 years and third-degree rape is 10 years — both increased from five years in 2019 by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo — meaning the Significant attacks that took place too long ago were prosecuted
However, Gov. Kathy Hochul in May signed into law a bill that opens a one-year window for historical rape and sexual assault cases to be filed. The window opens on November 24.
First-degree rape, like murder, has no time limit for filing charges.
Five women — Lili Bernard, Eden Tirl, Jewel Gittens, Jennifer Thompson and Cindra Ladd — are suing Cosby, the studio in the New York City borough of Queens where The Cosby Show was filmed, and NBCUniversal, which made the show popular. favourite. TV series.
They allege that the comedian ‘used his power, fame and reputation’ in a ‘nefarious, horrific manner’ to abuse them. They claim that the companies participating in the show ‘enabled and supported’ Cosby’s sexual assaults.
“Over the course of decades, Bill Cosby committed the serial sexual assault of dozens of women for his sexual gratification while his accomplices facilitated and supported these crimes,” the lawsuit states. sexual assault for financial gain through their association with Bill Cosby.”
Two of the five — Bernard and Tirl — are actresses on The Cosby Show. Bernard, one of Cosby’s most determined accusers, who in October 2021 filed a lawsuit against him in New Jersey, said that Cosby drugged and raped her in New Jersey and Nevada in 1990 and at his Manhattan home in 1991.
Tirl, who played a small role as a police officer on The Cosby Show, alleges that Cosby touched her inappropriately without consent in his dressing room in 1989 – after she repeatedly was led into his quarters, despite telling the production staff that she did not want to go.
Tirl testified in the case that someone on set, who she thought might be an assistant director, told her: ‘It happens all the time. Just go.’
She also alleged that Cosby said he ‘owned’ NBC.
Gittens alleges Cosby invited her to his Manhattan home in 1989 or 1990 to discuss making the series, but then drugged her and sexually assaulted her.
Thompson accused Cosby of making her touch him inappropriately without her consent at his Manhattan home in 1988 when she was 18 years old. The oldest allegation was made by Ladd, who alleged that Cosby drugged her and raped her in 1969.
She said the couple were friends and went to the movies together. She told Cosby she had a headache, and Cosby gave her a pill to help, causing her to pass out. She said she walked around the bed and knew she had been raped by him.
Jordan Rutsky, the attorney for the indictments, said this is ‘an important step’ in holding Cosby accountable.
He remains a free man, released from prison in June 2021 after serving three years of a ten-year sentence. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his 2018 conviction for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand.
Rutsky said: ‘This is an important step toward holding Bill Cosby and those who enabled him accountable for their actions and finding some measure of justice for the women they harmed. We are grateful to the defendants in this lawsuit and to other similarly situated women for their courage in confronting their abusers.’
Bernard also released a statement saying: ‘I am grateful to the State of New York for being able to stand with my fellow survivors as we support each other in our quest for justice.
