Following months and months of alleged victim after alleged victim coming out and accusing Bill Cosby of rape, the comedian was arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Pennsylvania on sexual assault charges.
Here is your first look at Cosby’s mug shot:
Earlier in the day, an arrest warrant for the 78-year old comedian was issued in conjunction with a 2004 case in which he’s accused of drugging and sexually violated former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.
Back in 2005, a judge dismissed the case due to a lack of evidence, but the charges filed Wednesday were the result of new evidence that came to light over the summer.
“A prosecutor’s job is to follow the evidence wherever it leads and whenever it comes to light,” said First Assistant D.A. Kevin R. Steele in a statement Wednesday.
“Upon examination of all of the evidence, today we are able to seek justice on behalf of Mr. Cosby’s victim.”
Cosby has been at the center of a scandalous storm for over a year now.
Over 50 women have come forward and told similar stories of how Cosby supposedly drugged them and violated them while they were in an unconscious or semi-unconscious state.
The statute of limitations has expired on most of these cases, however.
But this is not the case when it comes to Constand, who authorities say is willing to testify against Cosby.
On Wednesday afternoon, Judge Elizabeth McHugh read the charges against the 78-year-old and, according CNBC, set his bail at $ 1 million.
Cosby then handed over his passport and did not enter a plea.
He will remain free on bail pending trial, with a preliminary hearing was set for January 14.
If convicted on the felony second degree charge of aggravated indecent assault, Cosby faces five to 10 yearin jail and a $ 25,000 fine.
Just a short while ago, an attorney for Cosby issued the following statement to NBC:
The charge by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office came as no surprise, filed 12 years after the alleged incident and coming on the heels of a hotly contested election for this county’s DA during which this case was made the focal point.
Make no mistake, we intend to mount a vigorous defense against this unjustified charge and we expect that Mr. Cosby will be exonerated by a court of law.