9 hours ago
Bill Cosby
American actor Bill Cosby is facing a new sexual charge, less than a year after he was released from prison.
The plaintiff, 64-year-old Judy Huth, accuses the 85-year-old actor of sexually assaulting her in Los Angeles in 1975, at the home of the founder of the pornographic magazine Playboy.
These are among the latest sexual cases brought against Cosby, who has denied the allegation and is not expected to attend the court hearing.
Ms Hoth claims, in her 2014 complaint, that the incident occurred when she was 16, and at the time she met Cosby in a Los Angeles park, where he was shooting a movie.
She says he gave her an alcoholic drink as a “game” and then took her to the Playboy house.
She adds that there he took her to a bedroom and forced her to have sex with him.
Ms Hoth’s lawyer said Wednesday, in his opening argument in Santa Monica, California, court, that the actor was “acting authoritarian, fearless and fearless.”
Nathan Goodelburg added that Cosby “pounced” on his client, and that she suffered psychological disturbances as a result.
He said her anxiety “exploded” after she heard other women recounting their stories of sexual abuse at the hands of Cosby.
Cosby’s lawyers have admitted that he met Hoth in and that he actually went with her to the Playboy House, but they deny any sexual assault. They claim she was 18 at the time, not 16.
They wonder why the plaintiff stayed at the Playboy House for hours after the incident, watching a movie and swimming.
Defense attorney Jennifer Bonodon called the lawsuit “fabricated”, asking why Ms Huth and a friend kept “memorial” photos of the visit, after she was allegedly sexually assaulted.
Mr. Cosby is not required by law to attend the hearing, nor is he expected to do so. His lawyers had previously indicated that he had lost his sight, but he gave his testimony by video link.
Cosby is known to millions as the “Father of America”, but he faced dozens of court cases on charges of sexual assault and rape, some dating back to the 1960s.
He was convicted in 2018 of drugging and sexually groping a woman in his home in 2004, and was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison.
But the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the ruling last year, and he was released after spending nearly three years in prison.