Bill Cosby is going through one other sexual assault lawsuit filed by former Playboy mannequin Victoria Valentino, who alleges that the comic drugged and raped her in 1969.
Valentino, 80, filed the case in Los Angeles County Superior court docket Thursday in accordance with a brand new legislation that quickly lifted the statute of limitations on civil circumstances associated to sexual assault. The legislation, which expires on the finish of this 12 months, permits folks alleging they have been assaulted as adults to file civil lawsuits regardless of once they occurred.
“The trauma he inflicted upon me affects not only me, but my children and grandchildren,” Valentino mentioned. “By breaking my silence and speaking my truth, I hope this serves as my legacy to my family, and shows those survivors who have yet to find their voices, that hope and healing are possible.”
Cosby, 85, was beforehand convicted of sexually assaulting former Temple University basketball coach Andrea Constand in 2004 in a Montgomery County court docket in 2018. He was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in jail in that case, however was launched after practically three years when the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2021.
Valentino is suing Cosby for sexual assault and sexual battery. The swimsuit is in search of unspecified basic, particular and punitive damages, in addition to attorneys’ charges and court docket prices. The swimsuit additionally targets as much as 20 unnamed defendants, together with brokers and different workers who she alleges enabled Cosby.
Andrew Wyatt, Cosby’s spokesman, discounted Valentino’s allegations in an announcement, saying that she “has skirted from town to town promoting her alleged allegations against Mr. Cosby to anyone that would give her platform, without any proof of facts.” He additionally took concern with California’s so-called “lookback window” legal guidelines, saying that such legal guidelines have been “brought to life because our political figures are being driven by click-baiters, likes and followers, in order to excel to their political aspirations.”
“What graveyard can Mr. Cosby visit, in order to dig up potential witnesses to testify on his behalf?” Wyatt mentioned. “America is continuing to see that this a formula to make sure that no more Black Men in America accumulate the American Dream that was secured by Mr. Cosby.”
In her lawsuit, Valentino alleges that she first met Cosby at an audition in 1969. After assembly him, Valentino informed the comic of her 6-year-old son, who had just lately died in a drowning.
Cosby and Valentino, the swimsuit mentioned, met once more by likelihood at a Los Angeles cafe. Valentino was out to dinner with a good friend, who isn’t named within the lawsuit, and was nonetheless mourning her son’s demise. Cosby, the swimsuit mentioned, conversed with Valentino’s good friend, whereas Valentino herself “continued to sob over the tragic loss of her only son.”
The comic then allegedly supplied to pay for a therapy at a close-by Finnish spa for Valentino and her good friend, and a chauffeur later took the pair to a Los Angeles steakhouse for dinner. Cosby was there, and allegedly supplied the ladies capsules through the meal.
“Here! Take this! It will make you feel better. It will make us ALL feel better,” Cosby mentioned, based on the swimsuit.
The lawsuit claims that Cosby deceived the ladies by pretending to take one of many capsules himself giving Valentino and her good friend the impression “that the pill was safe to ingest.” Valentino took a capsule, a Cosby later allegedly put one other one in her mouth and her good friend’s mouth.
Valentino started to really feel nauseated and “struggled to keep her head up and stay awake.”
Cosby allegedly supplied to drive the ladies house, however started driving them “in the opposite direction.” They ultimately arrived at an workplace, the place Cosby supplied to “show them his awards,” based on the lawsuit.
After coming into the workplace, Valentino and her good friend handed out on a sofa. Valentino awoke to to see Cosby allegedly gazing her good friend “with a predatory intensity” and mentioned he had an erection.
She tried to get his consideration as a result of, the lawsuit says, she “knew Cosby was about to assault her friend.” Cosby allegedly grew to become offended at Valentino’s “efforts to thwart his assault” on the girl, and approached her as a substitute.
Cosby then allegedly raped Valentino, and compelled her to carry out oral intercourse on him. After, the swimsuit mentioned, Cosby informed Valentino and her good friend to “call a cab,” and left.
“For decades, Mr. Cosby played the roles of both Jekyll and Hyde — Jekyll as a gentleman and Hyde as a predator masquerading as a gentleman in plain sight,” Valentino’s legal professional, Jeff Anderson, mentioned. “He has left an immeasurable trail of pain, trauma and suffering in his wake, but today we are holding him accountable for his actions.”
At least 60 ladies have accused the entertainer of sexual assault, harassment or rape. Most just lately, final 12 months, Cosby was discovered liable in a civil case in Santa Monica, California, through which a jury discovered he sexually assaulted Judy Huth when she was a minor within the mid-’70s.
After Cosby’s case was overturned in 2021, Valentino informed The Philadelphia Inquirer the ruling was the most recent in a string of failures within the American justice system to guard ladies.
“We turn pain on ourselves because we don’t have anyone else to help us,” Valentino mentioned. “We need to put the legal system on notice.”
Source: www.anews.com.tr
