ENTERTAINMENT

Cosby said he got drugs to give women for sex

MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Bill Cosby admitted in 2005 that he secured quaaludes with the intent of giving them to young women he wanted to have sex with and that he gave the sedative to at least one woman and "other people," according to documents obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

Cosby's lawyers insisted that two of the accusers knew they were taking quaaludes from the comedian, according to the unsealed documents.

Nevertheless, attorneys for some of the numerous women suing Cosby seized on the testimony as powerful corroboration of what they have been saying all along: that he drugged and raped women.

The AP had gone to court to compel the release of a deposition in a sexual abuse case filed by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand — the first of a cascade of lawsuits against him that have severely damaged his good-guy image.

Cosby's lawyers had objected to the release of the material, arguing it would embarrass him.

Ultimately, a judge unsealed just a small portion of the deposition.

Cosby settled Constand's lawsuit under confidential terms in 2006.

His lawyers in the Philadelphia case did not immediately return telephone calls Monday. Constand consented to be identified but did not want to comment, her lawyer said.

"This evidence shows a pattern in which defendant 'mentored' naive young women and introduced drugs into the relationship, with and without the woman's knowledge, in order for him to achieve sexual satisfaction," Constand's lawyer, Dolores M. Troiani, argued in court papers.

Cosby, 77, has been accused by more than two dozen women of sexual misconduct in episodes dating back more than four decades. Cosby has never been charged with a crime, and the statute of limitations on most of the accusations has expired.

"If today's report is true, Mr. Cosby admitted under oath 10 years ago sedating women for sexual purposes," said Lisa Bloom, attorney for model Janice Dickinson, who claims she was drugged and raped.

"Given that, how dare he publicly vilify Ms. Dickinson and accuse her of lying when she tells a very similar story?"