Los Angeles, Jan 8 (IANS/EFE) Three more women have accused comedian and actor Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting them during the 1980s and 1990s, adding to a litany of similar charges dogging the screen star.
At a press conference Wednesday, Linda Kirkpatrick and Lynn Neal said they had met Cosby at a tennis club in two separate incidents.
Kirkpatrick said she went to a party in his hotel room where she lost consciousness after having a drink which he gave her, while Neal said she went out for dinner with Cosby and was knocked out after drinking a vodka that he ordered for her.
In both cases, when they recovered their senses, they found the comedian having sexual relations with them.
The third accusation was made by a woman named Kacey who said that she worked for an agency that represented Cosby and was made to take a pill by the actor at a Los Angeles hotel.
Kacey claimed that when she recovered consciousness, she found herself lying next to a naked Cosby in his bed.
With the latest accusations, more than 20 women have reported similar experiences with the actor who, in most cases, allegedly knocked them unconscious with some kind of drug and then sexually assaulted them.
However, Cosby will almost certainly not face trial or jail time because the statute of limitations for the alleged crimes has passed.
Cosby has never been convicted by a court for sexual abuse, though in 2009 he reached an extra-judicial settlement with then operations director of Temple University, who had reported him for taking liberties with her in 2004.
The family and representatives of the actor have rejected the accusations, while Phylicia Rashad, who played Cosby's wife in "The Cosby Show", said the charges could not be taken seriously and that they were serving to destroy the legacy of her former co-star.
The 77-year-old comedian set the benchmark for television comedy in the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties.
His most famous programme, "The Cosby Show", which aired from 1984 to 1992, had over 70 million weekly viewers at the peak of its popularity.
The actor has given speeches in universities and always projected himself as a champion of family values, something he tried to transmit through his work.
--IANS/EFE
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