Bill Cosby, who on Tuesday is attending a preliminary hearing in Philadelphia that will determine whether or not he will stand trial for sexual assault allegations, admitted to having sex with teenagers in a deposition from nearly 10 years ago that has only just been released to the public. The Associated Press published excerpts from depositions Cosby gave in 2005 and 2006 regarding allegations from Andrea Constand, who was one of the first of Cosby's alleged victims to go public with complaints against the actor.
In the depositions, Cosby was questioned by Constand's lawyers regarding her allegations against him, and also addressed his alleged crimes against women more generally. Regarding Constand, Cosby admitted to giving her drugs and proceeding to have sex with her without receiving verbal consent:
Andrea came to the house. I called her. ... We talked about Temple University. We talked about her position. And then I went upstairs and I got three pills. I brought them down. They are the equivalent of one and a half. The reason why I gave them and offered them to Andrea, which she took after examining them, was because she was talking about stress.
Regarding consent, Cosby said,
I didn't say it verbally, I said. The action is my hand on her midriff, which is skin. I'm not lifting any clothing up. This is, I don't remember fully what it is, but it's there and I can feel. I got her skin and it's just above the hand and it's just above where you can go under the pants. ... I don't hear her say anything. And I don't feel her say anything. And so I continue and I go into the area that is somewhere between permission and rejection. I am not stopped.
Cosby was also asked about his relations with another accuser, Therese Serignese, and acknowledged that he drugged her before the two proceeded to "have sex." "I meet Ms. Picking in Las Vegas. She meets me backstage. I give her quaaludes. We then have sex." He also said that he asked a model, who was between the ages of 17 and 19 when Cosby knew her, to masturbate him.
Further, the deposition shows Cosby admitting that he paid off Constand and Serignese in order to keep his wife from finding out about his actions. Earlier in 2016, Cosby sued Constand for breaking their contract.
