Bill Cosby to stand trial for sexually assaulting former pal… and could face ten years in jail

BILL Cosby has been ordered to stand trial for sexually assaulting a former pal — and could face 10 years in prison if convicted.

It is the lone criminal case lodged against the 78-year-old amid dozens of accusations that he molested women that have surfaced in the last two years.

Cosby is accused of incapacitating Temple University employee Andrea Constand with blue pills and then molesting her while she drifted in and out of consciousness at his Philadelphia mansion in 2004.

The comedian claims the encounter was consensual.

A frail Cosby raised a slight smile and waved to a crowd as he walked into the Pennsylvania courthouse on Tuesday aided by his spokesman Andrew Wyatt propping him up.

Constand, now 43, did not attend the preliminary hearing and instead the detective who took her original statement in 2005 read it out to the court.

The court heard how Constand claimed Cosby incapacitated her by giving her some blue pills that made her vision go blurry and her legs feel "like jelly".

She said Cosby told her the pills were herbal medication and also urged her to sip wine even though she hadn't eaten and didn't want to drink.

She said started to feel strange about 20-30 minutes later, the statement said: "Everything was blurry and dizzy. I felt nauseous", she added: "I told him, 'I can't even talk, Mr Cosby.' I started to panic".

The pair had been discussing a possible career change for Constand as Cosby was like a mentor to her, the court heard.

She claimed Cosby then helped her over to a couch to lie down and began to sexually assault her.

In his own police statement also read in court today, Cosby portrayed the encounter as consensual sexual activity and said Constand never said "no" as he put his hands down her pants.

He also said the pills were Benadryl which he took to help him sleep and she didn't ask what they were.

The defence attacked Constand's credibility and said after the attack she would still go to Cosby's house and go out with him, but the prosecution claimed she only did so to confront him about the assault.

Constand also told detectives she contacted Cosby after moving back to Canada because she wanted tickets to one of his comedy shows.

District Judge Elizabeth McHugh ruled there was sufficient evidence to bring Cosby to trial. After the ruling she said: "Mr Cosby, good luck to you sir", to which he replied: "Thank you".

The case was reopened last year after dozens of women raised similar claims about Cosby and a sealed deposition in a 2006 civil lawsuit brought by Constand — now a massage therapist in Toronto — was made public.

In the deposition Cosby admitted giving Constand pills.

He settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed sum after testifying about his extramarital affairs, his use of sedative drug Quaaludes to seduce women and his efforts to hide payments to former lovers from his wife.

On Monday new portions of the deposition were released revealing the star admitted to having sexual encounters with at least two teenage girls and described how an agency sent him "five or six" models a week while he was filming one of his sitcoms.

In the deposition Cosby was asked a graphic question about an encounter with a young model in 2000.

Cosby met the model when she was 17 although it is unclear how old she was when the sex act happened.

He also said in the deposition that he would give the young women: "A very, very good meal" when they visited.

Cosby also admitted giving quaaludes — a sedative drug — to 19-year-old Therese Serignese back stage in Las Vegas in 1976 and then having sex with her.

The criminal case against Cosby was brought last December in a last minute decision by the prosecutor's office just days before the statute of limitations on the allegations was to run out.

The actor has not entered a plea since his arrest on December 30 and is free on $1m bail.

Judge McHugh set a the next court date for July 20 where Cosby could enter a plea.

Although the Montgomery County case is the only criminal charge facing Cosby, he is also battling defamation, sex-assault and insurance lawsuits in other states.