UPDATE Dec. 31: Cosby has been arraigned on charges of aggravated indecent assault without consent, aggravated indecent assault where the victim is unconscious or unaware that penetration is occurring and aggravated indecent assault where the person impairs the victim.
Former Temple trustee Bill Cosby will face felony indecent sexual assault charges related to a 2004 encounter with Andrea Constand, a former Temple employee.
Constand, the former director of operations for the women’s basketball team, alleged that Cosby drugged and violated her in his Cheltenham mansion.
Part of the deposition in that case has since been released. In that, Cosby acknowledged under oath that he had sexual contact with Constand, but claimed it was consensual. Cosby previously testified he obtained Quaalude in the 1970s “to give to women he wanted to have sex with,” according to the Associated Press.
Dozens of other women have alleged that Cosby sexually assaulted them as well. Most accusations came after the statutes of limitations had expired—the allegations were too old to prosecute.
Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor originally declined to charge Cosby in the case in 2005, citing a lack of evidence, but it was reopened this year. The 12-year statute of limitations was set to run out in January.
“Reopening this case was not a question, rather it was our duty as law-enforcement officers,” said Kevin Steele, Montgomery County’s first assistant district attorney, who recently won election as district attorney in the county.
Cosby is scheduled to be arraigned at 2:30 p.m.
A university spokesman declined to comment.
Lian Parsons can be reached at lian.parsons@temple.edu or on Twitter @Lian_Parsons.
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