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Three women on Wednesday came together and detailed allegations that
comedian Bill Cosby sexually abused and groped them decades ago, a day
after Cosby was sued by a woman who said he molested her when she was
a teenager in 1974.
More than a dozen women have publicly accused the comedian of sexual
abuse as far back as the 1960s as the allegations have scuttled
Cosby's television projects and led to cancellations of numerous
comedy performances, including two gigs in suburban New York that were
scheduled for Saturday.
The women, one who says she was 17 at the time of her encounter with
Cosby, each sobbed while reading statements at a news conference
organized by celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, who is known for her
aggressive posture on women's issues.
"For years, I did not tell anyone about what he had done to me because
I was afraid," said Beth Ferrier, who claims to have had an affair
with Cosby in the mid-1980s. "I felt threatened by him, and I did not
think anyone would believe me."
Allred proposed the trailblazing African-American comedian should
waive the statute of limitations that protects him from decades-old
allegations or create a $100 million fund to pay damages to accusers.
Cosby's attorney has called allegations against Cosby discredited and
defamatory and was not immediately available for comment. Cosby has
not been charged with any crimes.
A woman who gave her name only as Chelan said that as a 17-year-old in
1986, Cosby drugged her, gave her alcohol and began to fondle her
before she blacked out.
Ferrier said she was one of the several "Jane Does" in a 2005 civil
lawsuit that made similar accusations against Cosby and was later
settled.
Another woman, Helen Hayes, accused Cosby of groping her breast at a
restaurant in 1973.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by Judy Huth, a California woman who
accused Cosby of sexually battery when she was 15 at the Playboy
Mansion in Los Angeles in 1974, is the first legal challenge to "The
Cosby Show" star since the wave of allegations began last month.
Huth's lawsuit uses a portion of California law that permits lawsuits
up to three years after childhood sex abuse is "discovered" to have
caused damages, no matter the plaintiff's age, a hurdle legal experts
say will be difficult to clear.
Credit: Reuters
