Bill Cosby Accuser Suing Former Montgomery County DA
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- The woman who brought allegations of sexual assault against Bill Cosby back in 2005 is suing former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor. Andrea Constand is alleging recent comments Castor made about her were defamatory and an invasion of privacy.
The lawsuit claims Bruce Castor called Constand's credibility into question and interfered with a 2015 investigation into her case with comments he made over the past month on various media.
In particular, the suit points to Castor saying Constand made more serious allegations in her civil complaint than she did in her statement to police.
Castor is running for District Attorney, and he calls the suit "Political Chicanery."
"It's nonsense, everything I said is absolutely true, I'll stand by it and defend it in court as long as is necessary," Castor said.
Castor's office declined to file charges back in 2005. The subject was injected into next week's election when Castor's opponent, democrat Kevin Steele, ran a campaign ad questioning that decision. Castor fired back, asking why Steele hasn't pursued charges as he is currently number two in the DA's office.
Dozens of women have since come forward to accuse Cosby of drugging and molesting them. And Cosby's deposition in the Constand case, released to the public this year, shows that Cosby acknowledged having sexual contact with Constand that night. He also said that, years earlier, he had gotten quaaludes from his doctor to give to young women before sex.
However, he said that his sexual relations with various women were consensual and that he never gave any women drugs without their knowledge.
The current Montgomery County prosecutor, Risa Vetri Ferman, appears to have revived the criminal investigation in Constand's case. Cosby's agents have contacted defense lawyers to handle a pending Montgomery County criminal probe. The 12-year statute to file charges expires in January, the month she leaves office as she runs for judge.
Ferman has declined to confirm that an investigation is underway, but, in response to the question, she recently noted the "tremendous courage" it takes for sexual assault victims to come forward.
Steele is Ferman's top deputy. He appears to be locked in a close race with Castor for the $172,000-a-year post.
Constand, then 31, left her job with the Temple University women's basketball team months after the January 2004 encounter at Cosby's home. She is now a massage therapist in Canada, in her native Ontario.
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