Bill Cosby Arrested: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Bill Cosby arrested, Bill cosby court

Bill Cosby arrives at the courthouse in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, to face charges of aggravated indecent assault. (Getty)

Disgraced comedian Bill Cosby has been arrested on sexual assault charges in Pennsylvania.

The Montgomery County District Attorney says the 2004 case falls within the statute of limitations for charges. First District Attorney Kevin Steele said the charges come after new information was brought forward.

“A prosecutor’s job is to follow the evidence wherever it leads and whenever it comes to light,” Steele said. “Upon examination of all the evidence, today we are able to see justice on behalf of Mr. Cosby’s victim.”

Cosby, 78, appeared in court Wednesday afternoon, dressed in a sweater, sweatpants and holding a cane. He was released on $1 million bail, and surrendered his passport. Watch video from outside the courthouse here.

He was also processed at the local police department, and had his mugshot taken. See his booking photo here.

The victim in the case, Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, reported the sexual assault in 2005.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. Cosby Is Accused of Digitally Penetrating the Victim, Whom He Was Mentoring

Bill Cosby arrested, bill cosby charges

The charges against Cosby.

Cosby is accused of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004 at his home in Cheltenham, where she was a guest.

The 12-year statute of limitations in the case is set to expire around January 2016. According to online court records, Bill Cosby is facing a felony charge of aggravated indecent assault.

Read the probable cause affidavit in the case below:

View this document on Scribd

Constand was the director of basketball operations at Temple University, Cosby’s alma mater, when she says he sexually assaulted her.

She filed a lawsuit against the then-67-year-old Cosby in 2005, one year after the alleged abuse occurred. According to the lawsuit, Constand said Cosby tried to mentor her, and she visited him at his Pennsylvania home in January 2004 to discuss career advice. Constand said Cosby gave her three blue pills, which he told her was herbal medication for her anxiety, and then “touched her breasts and vaginal area, rubbed his penis against her hand and digitally penetrated her.”

She said she woke up hours later, “feeling raw in and around her vaginal area,” according to the lawsuit, with her clothes “in disarray.” Constand said Cosby was “in his bathrobe.” He then left her to in the home by herself.

Constand reported the alleged assault to police a year later.


2. The Charges Come After a Federal Deposition Was Released From Constand’s Civil Case

District Attorney Kevin Steele said the charges come after a federal deposition given by Bill Cosby was made public.

The documents were released in July.

“The release of these documents in July and the subsequent release of Cosby’s deposition caused by the Montogomery County Distrit Attorney’s Office to reopen the case,” Steele’s office said in a press release. “After reviewing the initial investigation, re-interviewing some witnesses, examining other evicdence in the civil case and information from other alleged victims, it was determined that the evidence warranted the filing of criminal charges against Cosby.”

Steele said “there were specific questions of using Quaaludes,” answered by Cosby in the deposition.

Cosby admitted to obtaining Quaaludes, a prescription sedative, to give to women he wanted to have sex with. In the Constand case, Cosby is accused of giving her pills, which he says were Benadryl pills, and wine, before sexually assaulting her.

Constand said in her lawsuit that she took the pills with bottled water and her “knees began to shake, her limbs felt immobile, she felt dizzy and weak, and she began to feel only barely conscious.”


3. Cosby Has Been Accused of Sexual Assault by More Than 50 Women

Bill Cosby arrested, bill cosby charges

Cosby in May 2015. (Getty)

The case deals with just one sexual assault victim, but Cosby has been accused in lawsuits and in public statements by more than 50 women.

Cosby has denied all the allegations. Several women claim they were drugged by Cosby and then sexually assaulted.

This is the first time Cosby has been criminally charged.

The district attorney’s office said anyone with information about similar incidents should all the Montgomery County Detective Bureau at 610-278-3368.


4. Cosby Admitted to Assaulting Constand in a Phone Call With Her Mother, Police Say

(Getty)

(Getty)

According to the probable cause affidavit, Constand’s mother called Cosby to confront him in January 2005 after her daughter told her what happened.

Constand’s mother said during the two-and-a-half-hour phone call, she asked Cosby what he had given her. He said he would “look at the prescription bottle,” but couldn’t read it because of an eye condition. He said he would write down the name of the medication and mail it to her, but never did, according to the affidavit.

Police said in the affidavit, “Although Cosby did not identify the drug he gave to the victim, during the same conversation he admitted fondling the victim’s breasts, digitally penetrating her vagina and placing the victim’s hand on his penis for sexual gratification. Through these admissions to Mrs. Constand, Cosby directly corroborated the victim’s report concerning the actions.”

Constand’s mother also said Cosby apologized and offered to pay for therapy for her daughter.

“Cosby knew that his two prior sexual advances were blocked by the much younger, athletic victim,” police said in the affidavit. “He knew that further attempts at sexual conduct would likewise be unsuccessful unless he was able to prevent her from resisting. Hew knew the victim could become sedated and likely rendered incapable of resistance, by her ingestion of wine and Benadryl, or wine and another susbtance, known only to COsby, with similar effects.”


5. Prosecutors Declined to Press Charges in the Same Case in 2005

(Getty)

(Getty)

Prosecutors declined to press charges against Cosby in the same case in 2005. Former District Attorney Bruce Castor said there was not enough information to lead to charges against the comedian. Castor lost his bid for re-election in November to the current district attorney, Kevin Steele.

The victim settled a civil lawsuit with Cosby in the case. Constand’s attorney issued a statement about the arrest:

Constand, now 44, lives in her native country of Canada.