UPDATE 3:34 p.m.: Bill Cosby, whose legacy as a comedian has been damaged beyond repair by multiple accusations of sexual assault, faces three felony charges of aggravated indecent assault, according to CNN.
He was arraigned Wednesday afternoon and had his bail set for $1 million. One of the conditions for him to be eligible for bail was to surrender his passport, which he handed over to the prosecutor. Cosby has declined to enter a plea.
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Bill Cosby has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman in Pennsylvania more than a decade ago, sources familiar with the prosecutor's decision said Wednesday.
The charge dates back to an incident in 2004 when a former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, told police the comedian drugged and violated her at his home near Philadelphia, according to FOX News.
At the time, Bill Cosby alleged that their encounter was consensual and no foul play was involved, and a district attorney declined to charge him in 2005 and closed the case.
However, prosecutors reopened the case over the summer as dozens of other women came forward with similar accusations and testimony from a related civil lawsuit against Cosby was unsealed.
"Upon examination of all of the evidence, today we are able to seek justice on behalf of Mr. Cosby's victim," said Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney and incoming DA Kevin Steele, according to NBC News.
This is the first criminal case against Cosby in what has been a torrent of allegations that has permanently destroyed his good-guy image as America's Dad.
Many of those alleged assaults date back decades, and as a result the statute of limitations has expired in nearly every case, reported the Associated Press. However, Pennsylvania law provides prosecutors up to 12 years for some sex crimes, though these charges were announced just days before the statute of limitations is set to expire for this case as well.
Cosby and Constand settled her civil suit against him in 2006 on confidential terms.
