Bill Cosby, otherwise known as America’s worst dad, is being sued for sexual assault by nine women. In a lawsuit filed in Nevada on Wednesday, nine women claim that the formerly beloved actor and comedian, who has since taken a monumentally hard fall from grace, drugged and assaulted each of them on an individual basis in the state of Nevada between the years of 1979 and 1992. The suit claims the former Cosby Show star used his “enormous power, fame, and prestige” to take advantage of the women. That means over 60 women have officially accused Cosby of sexual assault.
So why are these women coming forward now, 33-44 years later? Nevada’s Governor, Republican Joe Lombardo, recently signed a new law doing away with the state’s two-year statute of limitations on sexual assault criminal cases, allowing the women to move forward with their claims legally.
Why do so many states in America have an extremely short statute of limitations when it comes to reporting sexual assault? In some states, adults have as few as two or three years from the incident to report their abuser if they want to prosecute the crime. And we all know there are myriad reasons why survivors may not be physically or mentally able to file charges right away. There is generally no statute of limitations for other violent crimes, like murder.
Lise-Lotte Lublin, one of the plaintiffs named in the suit, has been vocal about lobbying for the change in the law. She has spoken out about her alleged assault by Cosby before and her inability to pursue legal action because of the limitations. “For years I have fought for survivors of sexual assault, and today is the first time I will be able to fight for myself,” Lotte-Lublin said in a statement given to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “With the new law change, I now have the ability to take my assailant Bill Cosby to court. My journey has just begun, but I am grateful for this opportunity to find justice.”
California has also been overturning the statute of limitations on sexual crimes in recent years, with the most recent reduction allowing a California woman to file a lawsuit against Cosby on June 1, alleging that he drugged and assaulted her in 1969. And earlier this year, Cosby lost another California lawsuit and was ordered to pay half a million dollars to a woman he sexually abused when she was underage in 1975.
Cosby was formally convicted of rape in 2018 but only served three years in prison before a Pennsylvania court threw out the conviction in what many believe was a shocking and unjust decision.
(via Associated Press, featured image: Gilbert Carrasquillo, Getty Images)
