Bill Cosby Sexual Assault Update: LA District Attorney Will Not Pursue Charges Against Comedian
The Los Angeles District Attorney will not pursue sexual assault charges against Bill Cosby, officials said Wednesday. The news comes just days after the comedian was arraigned in Pennsylvania's Montgomery County District Court on sexual assault charges stemming from a 2004 case, and later released on a $1 million bail.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office ruled Wednesday that criminal charges could not be filed against Cosby as the two cases — for alleged assaults that occurred in 1965 and 2008 — were blocked by the statute of limitations or lacked evidence. The accusers, listed as Jane Does No. 1 and No. 2, had accused Cosby of sexual assault.
"We are satisfied that the Los Angeles DA's Office fully and fairly evaluated all the facts and evidence, and came to the right conclusion in declining to file charges against Mr. Cosby,” the 78-year-old actor’s lawyers reportedly said in a statement after the ruling. "We are also pleased that, on the same day, the California Court of Appeal ruled in our favor in Dickinson v. Cosby, thus reversing the order of the lower court and preventing any effort by Dickinson to depose our client until such time as she has proven she has sufficient evidence under California law to move forward with her defamation claim."
In one of the cases, Jane Doe No. 1 claimed that she was forced by Cosby to have sex with him in 1965 when she was 17 years old. Gloria Allred, who represents the woman, reportedly said that her client was "very disappointed" by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s decision.
"It is very difficult for a person who alleges that she is a victim to understand that there are arbitrary time periods set by law and that if allegations are not reported within that time period that it will be too late for a prosecutor to pursue them even if a prosecutor believes that there is sufficient evidence to prove that case beyond a reasonable doubt," Allred told ABC News in a statement.
Jane Doe No. 2, who has been publicly identified as Chloe Goins, alleged that in 2008, Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion when she was 18. Goins' attorney, Spencer Kuvin, said she was very upset by the ruling.
“We recognize that the bar for criminal prosecution, which is proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, is extremely high. We nonetheless commend the efforts of the LAPD and the District Attorney’s office with respect to their criminal investigation," Kuvin said in a statement to ABC News.
Cosby faces rape and sexual assault allegations from over 50 women. The comedian denied sexually assaulting his accusers, but reportedly admitted to cheating on his wife Camille in the past. He also said in depositions filed in 2005 and 2006 for one of his accusers that he had obtained prescriptions for Quaaludes, a powerful sedative and a party drug, so he could give the pills to women with whom he wanted to have consensual sex.
According to Page Six, Camille feels her husband of 52 years humiliated her. The outlet cited a source close to the family as saying that Camille did not think Cosby should be sent to jail but deserves “every bit of hell he’s going through.”
The source continued: "She has been thoroughly humiliated and believe me, her anger isn’t directed at the women. Bill has humiliated her, and the affairs he’s had have gotten out of hand and this [criminal charge] is him reaping what he’s sown.”
Camille, who has been married to Cosby for 51 years, was scheduled to give a deposition Wednesday for a separate Massachusetts defamation case made against her husband by seven women, but a judge agreed to the actor's lawyers' request to delay it.
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