【】

Famed comedian and alleged serial rapist Bill Cosby will be tried for the alleged sexual assault of Andrea Constand after a judge on Tuesday determined there is enough evidence against him to go ahead with the case.

Cosby, who met Andrea Constand at Temple University, has admitted to giving her Benadryl in 2004, and allegedly sexually assaulted her at the same time.

Constand's case against Cosby has a long history. 

Cosby has described himself as a mentor to Constand while she was the director of operations for Temple University's women's basketball team. 

But in 2004, she says he gave her pills and sexually assaulted her. 

Cosby claims the substance he gave her was for stress that Constand was "talking about."

Constand -- now 43 -- said the pills made her nauseous and dizzy, and she started to panic.

She went to the police a year after the incident, but the district attorney at the time said there wasn't enough evidence to levy a charge. They went to civil court, and the two agreed on a sealed settlement in 2006.

But not all of it remained sealed.

Last year, parts of Cosby's testimony were revealed to the public.

In the testimony, he admits to giving Constand pills. Cosby says he put "my hand on her midriff," and inched "into the area that is somewhere between permission and rejection."

He described what happened as "digital penetration."

Though much of the testimony deals with Cosby's relationship with Constand, he also talked about giving money in secret to other women he allegedly sexually assaulted. 

New Montgomery County, Pennsylvania District Attorney Kevin Steele won election in November and charged Cosby a month later, backed up by the new evidence in this particular case, as well as a growing flood of evidence that Cosby had raped and sexually assaulted dozens of other women. 

Cosby was then arrested and released on $1 million bail.

The fallen comedic icon tried to dismiss Constand's case in February, saying that the terms of the civil suit didn't allow him to be taken to criminal court.

His legal team was unsuccessful, as they were again unsuccessful in waving the case on Tuesday. Now, he and Constand await a trial date.

If convicted of sexual assault, Cosby could go spend as much as a decade behind bars.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on July 20, and the trial will proceed from there.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

最新评论