Bill Cosby Charged With Sexual Assault

DECEMBER 30--The felony sexual assault charges filed today against Bill Cosby are laid out in a detailed 20-page probable cause affidavit prepared by Pennsylvania investigators who portray the 78-year-old comedian as a pill-peddling predator who attacked his incapacitated victim and later sent her home with a blueberry muffin.

The affidavit describes Cosby’s alleged 2004 assault of Andrea Constand, 42, in his home in Cheltenham, a Philadelphia suburb. 

Constand, who met Cosby while working at Temple University, the comedian's alma mater, said that she considered the star her “mentor,” a relationship that the comedian later told police he fostered. Constand told police that she maintained a relationship with Cosby despite the fact that she had to block two unwanted sexual advances made by the entertainer.

Constand (seen at right) told investigators that she had gone to Cosby’s residence in early-2004 to talk about her career plans, adding that she told the performer that she felt “drained” and “emotionally occupied.” During their talk, Cosby told Constand that he “wanted her to relax,” according to investigators.

At one point, Cosby went upstairs and returned with three blue pills in his hand, Constand told police. “These will make you feel good. The blue things will take the edge off,” Cosby reportedly told Constand.

After being assured by Cosby that they were “herbal,” Constand ingested the pills. “Down them. Put ‘em down. Put them in your mouth,” urged Cosby, who added, “Take the water.”

According to Constand, Cosby then told her to “taste the wine.” When Constand replied that she had not eaten anything that day, “Cosby again directed her to ‘just taste the wine,’” investigators allege.

Shortly after ingesting the pills, Constand “began experiencing blurred vision and difficulty speaking,” the affidavit states. When Constand told Cosby that she was feeling ill, he “instructed her to lie down and he assisted her to the couch.” Constand told probers her legs felt “rubbery” and “like jelly” and that she could “not keep her eyes open, was not aware of any sounds, had no sense of time, and was ‘in and out.’”

Investigators charge that while Constand was incapacitated, Cosby positioned himself behind her on the sofa and began fondling her breasts. He also allegedly “penetrated her vagina with his fingers” and took Constand’s right hand and “placed it onto his erect penis.” Constand said that despite her impaired condition she was aware that Cosby was attacking her, but said that she was “unable to move or speak during the assault.” She described her condition and “paralyzed” and “frozen.”

Constand said that when she awoke the following morning at 4 AM, she discovered her sweater bunched up and that “her bra was undone and had been moved above her breasts.” As she walked toward the door, she spotted Cosby--who was wearing a bathrobe--standing at the bottom of the staircase. “Cosby gave her a muffin, walked to the front door, opened it, and said, ‘Alright,’” the affidavit states.

When Cosby was subsequently questioned by police about the encounter with Constand, he claimed to have provided her with Benadryl, an over-the-counter allergy medicine that is often used as a sleep aid. The comedian said that the pair’s sexual contact was consensual, adding that he had previously “petted and kissed” Constand on several occasions. When asked if he had sex with Constand, Cosby replied, “Never asleep or awake.”

Within months of the assault, Constand returned to her parents’s Canada home, and told her mother that Cosby had sexually assaulted her. Gianna Constand, investigators report, subsequently spoke twice with Cosby on the phone about “what he had done to her daughter.”

During the initial phone call--which lasted two-and-a-half hours--Cosby reportedly admitted engaging in sexual contact with Constand and “apologized and offered to cover any expenses associated with therapy.” When asked about the pills he gave Constand, Cosby said that he would “have to look at the prescription bottle,” adding that he had difficulty reading the label due to an eye condition.

Constand’s mother Gianna recorded a second phone conversation with Cosby, who “expressed his interest in assisting the victim financially with any educational goals.” When asked again to identify the pills he had provided, an “evasive” Cosby responded, “We can talk about what you asked for later.”

When police asked about the content of his phone conversations with Gianna Constand, Cosby replied that he admitted touching Andrea’s breasts and vagina, but “guaranteed [Gianna] that there was no penile penetration.” Cosby also recalled Constand’s mother saying that, “it is something a mother never hopes will happen to their daughter and that she did not know how long it would take the victim, and her, to heal.”

Cosby told cops that he apologized twice to Constand’s mother and asked “what she wanted him to do.” According to the comedian, Gianna Constand “said there was nothing he could do and that his apology was enough,” the affidavit states. Additionally, Cosby told police that he offered to “pick up the tab” for Andrea Constand to attend graduate school.

While Pennsylvania prosecutors initially declined to file charges against Cosby, the case was reopened in July in light of the torrent of similar sexual assault allegations made against the entertainer, as well as the unsealing of Cosby’s deposition in a civil suit brought against him by Constand (the matter was eventually settled, with financial terms subject to a confidentiality agreement).

During Cosby’s civil deposition, he admitted grooming Constand for a romantic relationship, and referred to the pills he provided her as “three friends to make [her] relax.” The entertainer recalled situating himself “in the spooning position” behind Constand and digitally penetrating her.

Cosby also testified that he obtained seven prescriptions for Quaaludes, though he had no intention to take the depressant. When Constand’s lawyer asked, “When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?” Cosby replied, “Yes.”

The criminal charges against Cosby were filed only days before the 12-year statute of limitations on aggravated indecent assault was to expire.

After reopening the Cosby case, detectives interviewed several witnesses initially questioned in 2005, including Constand and her mother. Gianna Constand, the affidavit notes, recalled that during her first phone conversation with Cosby, she told the celebrity, “You are a very sick man.” According to Constand, “Cosby agreed with that accusation and repeatedly apologized.” (20 pages)