Bill Cosby Charged: 5 Things You Might Not Know

Authorities in Pennsylvania announced charges against actor and comedian Bill Cosby Wednesday in connection with a 2004 alleged sexual assault.

Cosby has been charged with aggravated indecent assault, a second-degree felony. If convicted, Cosby could face as many as 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine, authorities say.

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Here are five things you might not know about the charges:

1. This is the first time charges  have been pressed against Bill Cosby for sexual abuse despite claims from at least 40 women.

No formal charges had ever been pressed against the comedian in connection with the alleged sexual assaults until Wednesday.

Cosby, who has long had a presence in the Philadelphia area and is a 1971 graduate of Temple University, was first accused in 2005. Since then, and especially within the past year, more than 40 women have come forward with allegations of sexual assault or lewd behavior.

Their reasons for not speaking out sooner are varied. In many instances, victims feared going to the police, stating that the accuser often became the one who had their name dragged through the mud. Others, hoping to forget a traumatic experience, wanted to move on. Still more said they were afraid that they wouldn’t be believed.

2. Charges are not being filed from all 40 accusers, but only one.

The case that led to charges involve Andrea Constand, who was a Temple University employee in 2004. She says she was drugged and assaulted in Cosby’s home in Cheltenham.

The allegations were initially brought up against Cosby in 2005, but the Montgomery County district attorney at the time, Bruce Castor, did not believe there was sufficient evidence to prosecute.

Additional evidence arose in 2015, First District Attorney Kevin Steele said. It’s due to this new evidence that the charges are being pressed.

Steele said that Cosby established a relationship with Constand leading up to the January 2004 sexual assault. He said that Cosby pressed her to take drugs and drink wine on the day of the incident.

Cosby is being charged with second degree felony aggravated indecent assault in connection with the incident.

3. More than 40 women have accused Cosby of some kind of inappropriate behavior, spanning several states and decades.

Cosby’s earliest accuser, Kristina Ruehli, said that in 1965 she ”suddenly passed out” at a party with Cosby, and that he tried to force himself on her.

Some 44 years later, in 2008, the most recent accuser, Chloe Goins, said that she was drugged and assaulted at a party.

Not all accusers had the same experience. Some allege they were drugged and then Cosby either raped or attempted to rape them. Some incidents involved only “rough kissing” or ”forced contact,” while other allegations are more severe.

Incidents occurred across the country, in Las Vegas, Chicago, Lake Tahoe, New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere.

4. Cosby almost got away without charges.

Prosecutors only had until January 2016 to bring charges against Cosby, due to a 12 year statute of limitations for felony sex crimes in Pennsylvania.

The alleged incident with Constand occurred in January 2004.

5. Cosby (and Constand) were at the center of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s race in the fall.

During the November elections, Steele ran against Castor for the open district attorney’s position.

In the months leading up to election day, both candidates ran ads levying responsibility for the case on the other.

Constand’s attorney even went as far as to say that if Castor was elected over Steele, they may not move forward with charges. Constand’s team said they couldn’t trust Castor after he failed to press charges in 2005.

Castor called the attacks politically motivated and baseless, and said that Steele was behind it. He also noted that he would have prosecuted in 2015 if he were prosecutor, and that Steele, as assistant DA, had done nothing.

Image of “BillCosby” by United States Navy photo by Mr. Scott King - Cropped from [1] from [2]. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons