American comedian Bill Cosby
admitted trying to pay women to keep quiet after having sex with them,
according to testimony obtained by the New York Times.
The newspaper says
Mr Cosby made the deposition 10 years ago. A lawsuit was lodged by a
former university worker in Philadelphia who claimed he drugged and
molested her.
Mr Cosby, now 78, is facing a series of sexual assault accusations.
He has denied the claims.
Court papers unsealed earlier this month showed that he admitted giving drugs to women with the aim of having sex with them.
The New York Times says it has obtained the deposition on which those court papers were based, in which more details are given.
Mr
Cosby was questioned for four days in 2005 and 2006 in a Philadelphia
hotel, and the deposition of close to 1,000 pages was formed.
The
case was brought by Andrea Constand, a former employee of Temple
University - the Philadelphia college with which Mr Cosby was once
closely associated.
Media captionGloria Allred, lawyer for one of Cosby's alleged victims: "We see him and we see the truth for what it is"
After
Mr Cosby intiated what he called a mentoring relationship, Ms Constand
says he then gave her a powerful drug and molested her.
Mr Cosby says he gave her only the over-the-counter antihistamine drug Benadryl.
'These romantic sexual things'
After Ms Constand became upset and returned to her native Canada, Mr Cosby offered to pay for her further education.
"My
wife would not know it was because Andrea and I had had sex and that
Andrea was now very, very upset and that she decided that she would like
to go to school," the New York Times quotes Mr Cosby as saying in the
deposition.
He is also reported as saying
he was skilled in reading women's reactions: "I think I'm a pretty
decent reader of people and their emotions in these romantic sexual
things, whatever you want to call them."
Mr Cosby also admits
paying another woman he met in 1976 and to obtaining sedatives with the
aim of giving them to women to have sex with him.
Mr Cosby says allegations against him are "fantastical"
And, still in the deposition,
he says he asked a model about the cancer her late father suffered with
the purpose of having sex with her.
Best known as Dr Cliff
Huxtable on The Cosby Show in 1984-92, the comedian is facing a number
of allegations dating back to the 1960s.
Most of the claims of
sexual assault are barred by statutes of limitations. They restrict the
length of time in which legal actions can be taken after an alleged
crime has been committed.
The accusations, which Mr Cosby has
described as "fantastical" and "uncorroborated", have led to some of his
stand-up shows being called off and the cancellation of some TV
projects.
No comments:
Post a Comment