The New York Post has reported that Bill Cosby paid Andrea Constand, one of his sexual assault accusers, $3.5 million in hush money in 2006. Cosby, 80, will face a retrial in April on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of Constand. The accused comedian could face up to 10 years in prison for each sentence if found guilty.
Former Montgomery County DA Bruce Castor refused to bring charges to Cosby in 2006 after claiming there were issues with Constand's credibility and insufficient evidence, prompting Constand to settle with Cosby. Constand, 44, claimed she was told by Castor to seek "civil remedies."
Castor was replaced in 2016 by Kevin R. Steele, who did not agree with the previous DA. Steele believed Constand's claim that she was drugged and assaulted by Cosby, and he believes the rest of Cosby's many accusers as well. In court, Steele said, "That man is a serial abuser. He selects his victims, he gives them an intoxicant, and he assaults them." Over 50 women have accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them.
Constand, a former basketball player, said she was assaulted in 2004 at Cosby’s Pennsylvania home. While she was visiting Cosby, who she considered as a mentor, Constand said he gave her three blue pills and wine. "My vision became blurry and I could hardly speak," Constand said. "I became frozen and paralyzed, and he was touching my breasts and put his hands down my pants."
The trial from last summer resulted in a deadlock after 12 jurors failed to reach a verdict. Cosby's defense was claimed that the alleged assault never happened in the previous trial. This time around and with a new attorney, the plan is to declare that Constand was only after money. Cosby continues to insist his relationship with the accuser was consensual. He said she turned against him after he couldn't get her a sportscaster position for the 2004 Olympics. Cosby's defense intends to argue that the amount paid to Constand was to rid him of a "nuisance" rather than admitting any guilt.
