A federal judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Bill Cosby by a woman who says he assaulted her in 1974 and later branded her a liar when she went public with the allegations.
Judy Huth said in court papers that she met Cosby, then a student at Temple University in Philadelphia, at a park while she was playing tennis there. She said that he took her to an area near some tennis courts and sexually molested her before they drove off together in his vehicle.
The Associated Press generally doesn’t name people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, as Huth has done.
Cosby’s attorneys argued that the case should be thrown out because too much time had passed since the alleged incident happened decades ago (Huth’s suit was filed last year). They also tried arguing their client couldn’t be sued for sexual battery because he wasn’t touching Huth’s “intimate parts.”
The judge’s ruling means that Huth can go forward with her allegations that Cosby sexually abused her in the Playboy Mansion around the age of 15, and that he defamed her later, when his representatives called her a liar.
In Tuesday’s ruling, Mastroianni wrote for example that Huth’s “mental anguish and emotional distress” is supported by evidence that she suffered from depression and post traumatic stress disorder because of the alleged abuse.
In addition to the $3 million in damages awarded to Huth, Mastroianni ordered Cosby to pay the plaintiff an additional $35,000 in legal fees.
The 77-year-old comedian is facing criminal charges in Pennsylvania over an alleged 2004 sexual assault. He denies wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to charges he drugged and molested Andrea Constand at his home near Philadelphia more than 14 years ago.
A judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Bill Cosby, in which an accuser claims the comedian sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974.
The ruling by Judge Craig Karlan allows Judy Huth’s complaint to move forward. He previously allowed Huth’s lawsuit to proceed, rejecting arguments from Cosby’s lawyers that she waited too long to make her accusations.
Cosby is facing several lawsuits stemming from similar allegations of sex abuse spanning decades. The statute of limitations in most states has long passed on prosecuting such crimes, so civil cases can be filed instead.
In his ruling, Karlan wrote: “Reaching back into 1973 and proceeding forward through today without limitation hardly seems like justice delayed.”
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