Bill Cosby will not be charged with a crime stemming from his alleged
molestation of a woman at the Playboy Mansion in 1974, authorities in
Los Angeles said.
In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court earlier this
month, Judy Huth said she and a 16-year-old friend met Cosby that year
at a San Marino park.
The alleged assault occurred later, after Judy Huth, who was just 15 years old at the time, said Cosby gave her alcohol to drink and led her to the mansion.
It's one of a series of around two dozen disturbing sexual assault accusations made against Cosby, 77, which Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner called sad
.
The Los Angeles P.D. agreed to look into some of these claims, even
though most occurred decades ago and are difficult, if not impossible,
to pursue.
Prosecutors said the 40-year-old Huth claim against Cosby is far past
the statute of limitations, which at the time of the alleged incident
was merely three years.
"Therefore, prosecution today for a potential felony sex crime from 1974 would also be barred," the D.A. said
, adding that at the time, this was a misdemeanor.
Cosby’s lawyers have called the assault claims discredited and
defamatory, but more and more seem to surface every day, and not all of
them decades old.
According to his latest accuser, Cosby drugged and licked Chloe Goins
in 2008 at the Playboy Mansion. She was just 18 at the time; Cosby around 70.
While Cosby defenders are quick to point out that he's never been
charged, and/or that people may be trying to extort him, the allegations
are piling up.
High-profile names such as Kathie Lee Gifford
, Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson have also come forward with various claims about his behavior.
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In 2006, he settled for an undisclosed sum a lawsuit brought by another
woman, Andrea Constand, who claimed Cosby drugged and sexually
assaulted her.
Many others have told shockingly similar stories, and surprisingly few
have taken any legal action, seeking primarily to be heard after years
of silence.
Two of his TV projects have been halted, many on-stage appearances canceled and reruns of his much-revered
The Cosby Show yanked from the air.