DA Announces Sexual Assault Charges Against Bill Cosby

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angelburst29

The Living Force
Bill Cosby is to be arraigned on sexual charges this afternoon in Pennsylvania.

Bill Cosby Charged With Sexually Assaulting Woman In Montgomery County
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/12/30/montgomery-county-da-to-announce-decision-on-cosby-charges/

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Bill Cosby was charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting a woman at his home 12 years ago — the first criminal charges brought against the comedian out of the torrent of allegations that destroyed his good-guy image as America’s Dad.

The case sets the stage for perhaps the biggest Hollywood celebrity trial of the mobile-all-the-time era and could send the 78-year-old Cosby to prison in the twilight of his life and barrier-breaking career.

In bringing the case, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman overruled her predecessor, who declined to charge Cosby in 2005 when Temple University employee Andrea Constand first told police that the comic drugged her and violated her by putting his hands down her pants at his mansion in suburban Philadelphia.

Cosby was charged with aggravated indecent assault and was to be arraigned in the afternoon.

The TV star acknowledged under oath a decade ago that he had sexual contact with Constand but said it was consensual.

The charges were announced just days before the 12-year statute of limitations for bringing charges was set to run out.

The victim’s attorney released the following statement:

‘On behalf of our client, Andrea Constand we wish to express our appreciation to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, the County Detectives and the Cheltenham Police Department for the consideration and courtesy they have shown Andrea during this difficult time. We have the utmost confidence in Mr. Steele, Ms. Feden and their team, who have impressed us with their professionalism. In that this matter is now being pursued in the criminal justice system, we will not comment further.’

Prosecutors reopened the case over the summer as damaging testimony was unsealed in Constand’s related civil lawsuit against Cosby and as dozens of other women came forward with similar accusations as the wise and understanding Dr. Cliff Huxtable from TV’s “The Cosby Show.”

The Pennsylvania Office of Victim Advocate released the following statement on the charges:

‘Today’s announcement of criminal charges against Bill Cosby serve as true vindication and validation of over 40 brave women who have come forward with similar stories of sexual assault. I applaud the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office for their thoughtful and conscientious review of the facts in this case. I further commend them for not giving up on this victim when so many others had in the past. Sometimes justice moves slowly and often for victims in high profile sexual assault cases, it never comes. The victims who have watched their accuser walk above the law because of his status will hopefully feel some redemption in the face of all the speculation and condemnation they have endured over these years.’



WATCH: Sexual Assault Charge Against Bill Cosby Announced
http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/12/30/video-sexual-assault-charge-against-bill-cosby-prosecutor-announces

Cosby Accuser Reacts to Bombshell Court Docs: 'It's the Day of Reckoning'

White House Faces Calls to Revoke Cosby's Presidential Medal of Freedom

Bill Cosby has been charged with sexual assault stemming from an incident in 2004 in Pennsylvania.

The charge of felony aggravated indecent assault against William Henry Cosby was filed this morning and announced by Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele.

The count is a first-degree felony that has a 12-year statute of limitations.

Though Cosby has been accused of rape by more than 50 women, the charges today only pertain to one alleged victim in Pennsylvania, Andrea Constand.

Steele said he expects that Cosby will be arraigned later this afternoon.

Cosby, 78, has maintained that the many allegations of sexual assault against him are false. In this case, he has said that he and the woman had consensual sex.


Bill Cosby charged with aggravated indecent assault in Pennsylvania
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/bill-cosby-charged-with-aggravated-indecent-assault-in-pennsylvania-593495107831

Wed, Dec 30 - Bill Cosby faces criminal charges for aggravated indecent assault after providing pills and wine to the victim, a former Temple University employee, according to prosecutors. NBC's Stephanie Gosk explains to TODAY's Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly what the charges could mean for Cosby. Arraignment is set for later this afternoon.
 
Bill Cosby: A Timeline of Sexual Assault Allegations (Video)
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/bill-cosby-timeline-sexual-assault-allegations/story?id=36013880

Cosby, 78, was first publicly accused of assault by Constand more than 10 years ago. He was not criminally charged until today.

The turning point came at the end of 2014, after a fellow comedian's remark went viral and dozens of women came forward with claims, some dating back nearly 50 years. His attorneys have issued a number of denials since then.

Here's a timeline of events since then: (list)

Dec. 30, 2015 More than 50 women have come forward, most of them within the thirteen months, but the legendary actor and comedian had never been charged with a crime -- until now. Cosby is charged with drugging and sexually assaulting Constand in 2004. He did not enter a plea at his arraignment and is free on $1 million bail.

"The charge by the Montgomery County District Attorney's office came as no surprise, filed 12 years after the alleged incident and coming on the heels of a hotly contested election for this county's DA during which this case was made the focal point," Pressley said in a statement. "Make no mistake, we intend to mount a vigorous defense against this unjustified charge and we expect that Mr. Cosby will be exonerated by a court of law."
 
Disgraced comedian embraces his lawyer before boarding his private plane to Massachusetts
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3378951/Arrest-warrant-issued-Bill-Cosby-2004-sexual-assault-Andrea-Constand.html

Accused sex attacker Bill Cosby flew out of Philadelphia Wednesday night on his $3million private plane - after a lingering hug with the high-profile attorney who has vowed to exonerate him. Cosby is headed to his estate in rural western Massachusetts, where he was in hiding for weeks before he was charged.
 
There is a series of three videos defending Cosby in the links below. They suggest it is wrong for him to have become disgraced before he has had his time in court.

The videos are each about half an hour long. The second one concentrates on the 30 accusers.

To save time, a good place to start might perhaps be in the third video at 19:34. Here the video suggests a possible bigger picture in which there may have been a conspiracy to "take down" Cosby. Cosby had a new comedy show planned for 2014. In the early 2000s, Cosby was planning on buying a TV network (NBC). The video suggests Cosby's aim was to present more positive views of black people, rather than views that promote divisiveness and blaming.

The old "Cosby Show" TV series showed an upper middle-class black family, and may have helped provide good role models for black people to pursue higher education, become doctors etc. Cosby refused to play acting roles that showed negative stereotypes of black people like drug dealers.

It certainly seems he wasn't squeaky clean in the 1970s. He was a womanizer and had relationships with women that were exploitative. In the context of the 1970s, recreational drug use was more common, including the Quaaludes which were used as downers after taking uppers like cocaine. It was a time when cocaine was openly taken in dance clubs, "date rape" wasn't a concept yet, and people were perhaps more sexually promiscuous than today, at least in some social scenes. In his testimonial Cosby says he did buy Quaaludes with the intention of giving them to women. His lawyer says that though he gave these drugs to women, he never insisted they take them if they didn't want to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cphJJMJyIJA "BOMBSHELL Cosby News! - What The Media Didn't Want You To See Part 1" by Dru Story News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiuNbcZHB-c (Part 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yToaTCqbslc (Part 3)
 
Mal7 said:
In the early 2000s, Cosby was planning on buying a TV network (NBC).
Click to expand...
Correction: It was in 1992-1993 that Bill Cosby and some others were trying to buy the NBC television network.
In any case, Cosby showed the bosses and critics what a big deal it really was when he made several bids over the past year to buy NBC. An actor buying a network? Clearly, many thought, this was the attack of the killer ego, a delusionist who thinks he can play with the big boys. “What you have to understand is, I wasn't the only one,” Cosby explains. “I was the only one as far as the press was concerned, and then finally they had to name the other partners. The excitement of it was this entertainer, who is an African-American, was out to try and raise money to run a network. And then it comes down to, 'Can he run a network?' Well, what is the question really?'”

He forces the question again, directly to his interviewer. Given a reply that most network heads are guys in suits and not performers, he hammers, “They're white. That's the issue. What makes an entertainer any dumber than some executive? I mean, can you even tell me why they keep saying TV is the way it is and now an entertainer decides to try and run a part of the network and he's gonna do worse? You tell me I can't run a network? Bring me an old wreck that's beat up and you say, 'You can't run this?' The question should be, 'Why would you want to?'”

Power, yes — but not just for power's sake. “There are people, regardless of race, color, creed, who are not being seen, heard, mainly because they don't fit into the C-grade media mold,” he says. “If a guy wants to sell pop or beer [on TV], he doesn't care what the IQ is of the woman or man who buys it. So it leaves [programming] open for people with no particular moral convictions.” Will he take another stab at staking claim of NBC? “No, it's over,” he answers. “Couldn't get it.”
Click to expand...
- http://members.authorsguild.net/lbernhard/bill_cosby__the_man_who_would_be_king__78584.htm
 
I can't really say - I have an opinion of Bill Cosby, one way or the other but through the years, there's been rumors floating around Northeastern Pennsylvania, of Cosby's possible womanizing and sorted private escapades. There's the general opinion - that fame and fortune have gone to his head and some where along the line, "his ego" crossed a moral ethical barrier.

Much in the way, that Jerry Sandusky used his position and "status" as Assistant Coach at Penn State to cover his misdeeds, Bill Cosby was using Temple University.

To get some idea of why it might have taken so long to get a "conviction" to address criminal charges of sexual harassment against Cosby, for there is a long list of allegations of sexual misconduct - going back years, it might help to focus on what his efforts have benefited him, personally.

In a real sense, there is no way "of denying Cosby has talent" and has rightfully earned a plaque in Hollywood but notoriety and position might have played, a part in bringing out a part of his personality that didn't reflect his Hollywood persona? Like some of our high profile Bank's, Cosby might have the opinion - "He's "too Big to Fall" from grace?

Cosby's mansion in Elkins Park, about 5 miles out from downtown Philadelphia, is in a very exclusive neighborhood. You could win the Mega-Million's Lottery and still be denied in purchasing a home/estate there - depending on what your background and status are.
Actually, Elkins Park is one Ward, out of seven, in Cheltenham Township, with the general area being referred to as "Cheltenham". Historically, from the late 19th to early 20th century, Cheltenham established itself as one of the most prominent communities in the Philadelphia area. For instance, Benjamin Netanyahu was raised in Cheltenham and attended Beth Sholom Synagogue - the only Synagogue ever designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. So, the area has some interesting history and notable personalities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheltenham_Township,_Montgomery_County,_Pennsylvania

From Cosby's Elkins Park estate, his Attorney's escorted him to the Philadelphia Airport, to board his private plane, to be flown to his estate in rural western Massachusetts, in the remote town of Shelburne Falls. Cosby also has another residence in Pacific Palisades, CA.

As has been quoted,

"In bringing the case, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman overruled her predecessor, who declined to charge Cosby in 2005 when Temple University employee Andrea Constand first told police that the comic drugged her and violated her by putting his hands down her pants at his mansion in suburban Philadelphia.

Prosecutors reopened the case over the summer as damaging testimony was unsealed in Constand’s related civil lawsuit against Cosby and as dozens of other women came forward with similar accusations that made a mockery of his image as the wise and understanding Dr. Cliff Huxtable from TV’s “The Cosby Show.”

Many of those alleged assaults date back decades, and the statute of limitations for bringing charges has expired in nearly every case.

The charges add to the towering list of legal problems facing the actor, including defamation and sex-abuse lawsuits filed in Boston, Los Angeles and Pennsylvania.
 
When I first heard this story some time ago my first reaction was not whether it was true or not, since the number of women coming forward suggests it's unlikely that there is no truth at all to the allegations, but why now?

In part it may suggest that the PTB are very worried over politically charged developments such as the Black Lives Matter movement. Police brutality especially concerning blacks is nothing new, but the extent of video coverage has increased w/ the availability of video cams, and even police chiefs are in some cases having to publicly own that their boys in blue aren't always behaving as they should, given this recorded evidence is so damning.

As for Cosby's image, both respectable and disgraced, the hugely popular Cosby Show most definitely stood out since it didn't reflect how blacks were usually portrayed. To have an upper middle class black family with the husband and wife two accomplished professionals was something new and did change public perception to include such a possibility. It certainly put forth the question, how are blacks any different? It is therefore particularly emotionally and politically charged to have such a cultural trail blazer as Cosby seemingly exposed as this especially underhanded (given his use of Quaaludes) womanizer. Underlining this is that the show's re-runs have been pulled, which is interesting in itself. Obviously, from a P.R. standpoint, there's an awkwardness to airing these re-runs given how huge a story this has become. And yet what is more slyly implied is that what the Cosby Show represented is no longer valid. In that it's the PTB orchestrating and carrying out this race war with all its muscle: See? (they're saying), we gave this whole idea a chance and look what happened.

Of course, for women, the Cosby story cuts both ways. The PTB don't show much sympathy for "women's issues," or women in general EXCEPT when it comes in handy to do so.

It might be interesting to consider two other salient stories of a prominent black man's disgrace: O.J. Simpson and Judge Clarence Thomas. With the latter it almost seems that in roping in Anita Hill -- the woman who testified against him again concerning sexual harassment during his confirmation hearings -- the "ploy" worked given that Thomas' visceral outrage as this black man being publicly shamed and humiliated (from his point of view unfoundedly) superseded his actual qualifications for the job. (Off hand, I'd say his record on the bench suggests such qualifications were fairly nil, and that he was hired as this stand-in "yes man.") In any event, Thomas' success will always be tainted by these hearings, which is another win for the racist PTB. In all, you might say it's the PTB having its cake and eating it too.

As for Simpson… not that I've done any research on this, but more recently I wondered if mind control wasn't involved, so extreme were the details of this double killing. Simpson, of course, was the black man that the otherwise racist white male sports fan could like -- or even love. Simpson, with his enormous talent and good looks and Hollywood lifestyle, had it all. God, I just thought of Tiger Woods.

The thing is when making these analyses one needs to realize that two opposing ideas CAN coexist. However, the PTB is incessantly working to undermine us in our more nuanced and reasoned thinking, and thereby come to the "final verdict." These black men, we are being told, have all been given a real role to play in the theater of public perception, and look what happened?

Because of the history of the black experience in this county the PTB's sinister double dealing is all the more disturbing for those of us who are paying close attention -- the minority of us, in other words.

I'd add here that black historians have looked at the "contamination" of Hip Hop culture, which started as something more along the lines of Motown, which had a far more positive seeming outlook and vibe. The contamination came from the top, from the industry itself. I've not read this material, but did listen to a black historian speak about this occurrence. Anyway, much more needs to be said on this, but I'll end here with a quote from some bio material I just found on Stevie Wonder by Steve Huey, since it so greatly contrasts with the popular perception of most Hip Hop, or more specifically, Gangsta Rap:

"Nearly everything [Stevie Wonder] recorded bore the stamp of his sunny, joyous positivity; even when he addressed serious racial, social, and spiritual issues (which he did quite often in his prime), or sang about heartbreak and romantic uncertainty, an underlying sense of optimism and hope always seemed to emerge."

 
.. I just found this on Youtube. In coming from a radical position on feminism and colonialism it offers a different view on Cosby and the Cosby Show. To me it's always about what type of lens one is using, to borrow an analogy from filmmaking.

.. the idea of assimilation is not exclusive to African Americans, and each generation has its take on it. Cosby's success at such assimilation, particularly as portrayed in the Cosby Show, may well have helped provide the platform for further debate on its merits (or lack thereof), as per this accounting:

 
Heather said:
When I first heard this story some time ago my first reaction was not whether it was true or not, since the number of women coming forward suggests it's unlikely that there is no truth at all to the allegations, but why now?
Click to expand...

Some other videos I found interesting. . .

Phylicia Rashad, who played Mrs Huxtable on "The Cosby Show", thinks the motivation behind the accusations is "the obliteration of legacy":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_5rsbKo-GU [ABC News - "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Phylicia Rashad on the Bill Cosby Firestorm"]

It has emerged that Cosby the man was very different to Cliff Huxtable the character. Cliff Huxtable the role was a monogamous benign-patriarch figure within a kind of "perfect family". On the allegations against Cosby, one can ask "Why Cosby, why now?" It is not hard to imagine there could be many other figures in the entertainment industry who may also have been similarly culpable Quaalude-distributing womanizers, perhaps on a level worse than Cosby.

Here is Bill Cosby talking (in 2008?) about black issues. He seems to advocate a kind of "take responsibility, pull yourself up by your own boot-staps" position, e.g. at 4:00 minutes he talks about a person from Nigeria arriving in the USA for the first time who the next day goes out to get a book on Engineering:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGqlrVmVULc [Video title: "Blacks are Screwed By no one else but Themselves" - by BlacksAgainstBET]

Finally here's an early video (1971), again showing Cosby's serious interest in social matters. It is not funny or stand-up comedy, but shows Cosby adopting and presenting many kinds of prejudiced or bigoted thinking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6vMTZZZMqQ ["Bill Cosby on prejudice (1971)"]
 
Heather said:
When I first heard this story some time ago my first reaction was not whether it was true or not, since the number of women coming forward suggests it's unlikely that there is no truth at all to the allegations, but why now?
Click to expand...

Re-quote:

Many of those alleged assaults date back decades, and the statute of limitations for bringing charges has expired in nearly every case.

The charges add to the towering list of legal problems facing the actor, including defamation and sex-abuse lawsuits filed in Boston, Los Angeles and Pennsylvania.

In criminal charges of sexual harassment, the Statute of Limitations is 12 years, respectively in Pennsylvania Courts, as well in Boston and California District Courts.

Bill Cosby has residences in each of the locals - for which previous allegations have been filed against him.

Elkins Park, in Cheltenham Township, Philadelphia.

Shelburne Falls, in rural western Massachusetts.

Residence in Pacific Palisades, California.


To hire an Attorney, file a Lawsuit and get into Court can cost "thousands of dollars - up front" - before a Petition can be filed with the Court - to bring the case forward. The Attorney may request Ten Thousand dollars or more for "a Retainer" just to check out your claims and do an independent investigation to warrant his involvement. When the Retainer Escrow gets down to (say Five Thousand dollars) the Attorney may request another Five Thousand dollars - so he can file Legal Doc's. Court expenses are another issue - you may have to put up collateral such as a Property Deed, your car or any other investment of ownership - just to appear in Court. Unless, you have Fifty to a Hundred Thousand dollars at your disposal or through a Bank Loan to cover Court proceedings. In a high profile case such as Cosby's, Court proceedings might be extended, adding to the financial Bill for filing addition requests? If you win the Case, you should be able to recover - ALL expenses. But until then, it costs a lot of money and time, with the majority of victims only able to lodge an allegation but can never afford to get into Court.
 
All interesting videos, Ma17.

Phylicia Rashad's comments, along with the second video (both by way of omission almost) point to that divide between public persona and one's personal life, which itself is fraught with persona, as in one's sense of oneself -- or self image -- which is often at odds with those bitter self truths we all have to face up to from time to time, hopefully not in public, and hopefully so to further address them.

.. my interest in this I've in some manner brought up elsewhere (which reminds me I started a thread on the novel I'm writing in the book section that I need to return to).. anyway, my interest has to do with some of the vagaries involved. In other words, I don't feel "hypocrite" is the right word to explain the disconnect that's going on here between Cosby's public persona and his dealings with women, since hypocrisy has more to do with pretending to be something you're not, and I'm not convinced that's the case. Instead, my sense is that it has to do with a form of compartmentalization where the two selves just don't meet up very often, since it would seem the self Cosby portrays himself as (and which in a public context he actually is -- the self that Rashad is describing and responding to) would very likely be aghast at what this other self has been doing to these women (as alleged, that is). It's not a multiple personality I'm describing, and yet it functions similarly.

.. also.. a person's sexuality and sexual behavior more readily go to that murkier place where the more "acceptable" self is denied entry. I mean, here's a man whose enormous success and celebrity would enable him to attract women very easily without having to drug and rape them (!) So, what explains this behavior?

.. (I have some ideas, but maybe I'll mull them over a bit)


angelburst29, you're indicating why these cases might not have gone to court (although some attempts were made, as I understand it) in the past, given the expense of doing so -- and more currently due to their well exceeding the statute of limitations for such cases. But my question goes more to the orchestrating of this whole thing through the media, and the timing involved. This might have happened ten years ago, for example, but that it all came together now becomes something to contemplate on that basis.

.. my tentative conclusion (as per my first post) is that given Ferguson and the sort of activism that has ensued there would be a greater leaning (on the part of the PTB) toward counter measures meant to "put blacks in their place," as it were. I wouldn't even say this is entirely conscious, since there is a vibrational element to how these things develop.

.. as to the issue of women being angry and wanting to have their "day in court," so to speak, it's what's driving the whole thing -- but within the more hidden context of this divisive "race war" agenda.

--oh. Speaking of race war, I couldn't help but notice that the same week this whole Cosby thing blew up in the media, Mr. Charles Manson.. (you might want to wiki his apocalyptic Helter Skelter race war featuring blackie vs. whitie).. also popped up in the news -- seems he was getting married to a nice, twenty-something woman while he finishes up his life sentence. [??]

.. yeah, so, the nadir of the counter culture turns up doing the "wholesome" thing.. meanwhile, the wholesome Mr. Huxtable seems to be..

[etc. etc.]

(sigh)

.. (good night!)
 
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