Beverly Johnson sounds off on Bill Cosby arraignment

He is accused of plying former Temple University employee Andrea Constand with wine and pills – perhaps Benadryl, perhaps quaaludes, prosecutors suggested – and then penetrating her with his fingers while she was unable to move or protest.

More than 50 women have already publicly claimed abuse by the pioneering African-American comedian, who attained his greatest fame for his role as the lovable family doctor and pater familias in the hit 1980s sitcom “The Cosby Show“.

Most, if not all, of her own clients, Allred said, were barred from pursuing a criminal case by the statute of limitations – “that arbitrary time limit set by law from having their cases prosecuted”.

“The fact that this was a politically motivated prosecution doesn’t make it wrong”.

“My client is not guilty”, attorney Monique Pressley says of Bill Cosby during an interview with the Today show on Thursday morning, rejecting any notions that the longtime comedian may take a plea deal. Following his arrest, Cosby was released on $1 million bail and ordered to turn over his passport.

Andrea Constand, who accuses Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting her, at a park in Toronto, December 30, 2015.

Still, he predicted that will be an uphill battle for Cosby’s attorneys.

The 78-year-old comedian said under oath that he had consensual sexual contact with the woman.

Stuart Slotnick, who is also a former state prosecutor in NY, noted that Montgomery County District Attorney-elect Kevin Steele ran for his current position on a platform that criticised Bruce Castor – his opponent and the former district attorney for the county – for not prosecuting the Cosby case.

The accusations against Cosby have common threads that paint a picture of a man who allegedly used his power and influence in the entertainment industry to seek out vulnerable young women and lure them in with the promise of mentorship.

At the time, Castor was running against Steele for the district attorney position.

Steele said the charge stemmed from new evidence in the case that came to light in July, prompting the reopening of the investigation.

“Whether the accused is a high profile celebrity or a star athlete, we can no longer allow sexual assault to be swept under the rug”, said Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of the women’s rights organization, UltraViolet, in a statement. The statute of limitations is due to expire at the end of January. And I don’t feel her say anything. Almost 70 percent of sexual-assault victims don’t tell authorities about their assaults, the Justice Department estimates, and less than 10 percent of rapes lead to an arrest. Steele urged them to come forward as well.

Attorneys for alleged rapists often see stalled cases as a way to sow doubt about accusers’ accounts.

“Bill Cosby has spent his life attempting to silence the women he has assaulted with threats, lawsuits and money”, wrote Judd Apatow, the Hollywood director.

Additional reporting Associated Press. “But [in the Constand case], there was no significant delay before reporting”.

Undermining an accuser’s credibility could be central to Cosby’s defence, said Tom Mesereau, a California defence lawyer who represented Michael Jackson in his successful defence against sex crime charges.

Steele won the November election. “How can we possibly trust him?”

(David Swanson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP).

Filing the case under the wire could raise questions about whether the prosecutor’s judgment had been hurried or compromised.

The charges were filed one day before the legal deadline.