Bill Cosby Allegations Timeline: Conviction, Reversal, and Verdicts

The Bill Cosby allegations timeline stretches from the mid-1960s to the present, covering more than 60 women who have accused the entertainer of drugging and sexually assaulting them, a 2018 criminal conviction, a 2021 Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversal that freed him, and a growing docket of civil lawsuits, including a $59.25 million judgment against him in 2026. Cosby has denied every allegation.

The Earliest Accusations: 1960s and 1970s

The oldest publicly reported allegations date to the mid-1960s, as Cosby was rising to national fame. Sunni Welles alleged she was raped twice after being drugged. Kristina Ruehli alleged that in 1965, when she was 22, Cosby drugged her and attempted to force her to perform oral sex at his Los Angeles home.¹ In 1969, Joan Tarshis alleged she was drugged and raped, and Victoria Valentino alleged she was drugged and raped in the Hollywood Hills after Cosby gave her pills at a restaurant.²

The 1970s brought more. Judy Huth alleged that in 1974, when she was 15, Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion. Marcella Tate and Margie Shapiro described incidents at the mansion during the same period. P.J. Masten alleged she was drugged and raped at the Whitehall Hotel in Chicago in 1979.¹ A pattern ran through the accounts. Cosby allegedly offered pills or spiked drinks, and the women lost consciousness before being assaulted.

Allegations From the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s

Model Janice Dickinson alleged Cosby drugged and raped her in a Lake Tahoe hotel room in 1982.³ Barbara Bowman alleged that starting in 1985, when she was 17, Cosby repeatedly drugged and assaulted her over two years in Reno and Atlantic City.¹ Chelan Lasha alleged that in 1986, at 17, Cosby gave her a pill and alcohol before assaulting her. Supermodel Beverly Johnson alleged Cosby drugged her via a cappuccino at his Manhattan home during a mid-1980s meeting about “The Cosby Show.”⁴

Lili Bernard, a former guest star on “The Cosby Show,” alleged Cosby drugged and raped her in an Atlantic City hotel room in 1990 after initiating a mentoring relationship.⁵ Angela Leslie alleged a 1992 assault in a Las Vegas hotel room. By the time the full wave of accusers came forward, the total reached 60, with roughly two-thirds describing the same pill-or-drink pattern followed by a blackout.⁶

The Andrea Constand Case: January 2004

The allegation that eventually produced a conviction came from Andrea Constand, then an operations manager for Temple University’s women’s basketball program. In January 2004, Constand visited Cosby’s home in Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, to discuss her career. She testified that Cosby gave her three blue pills she believed were herbal supplements, lost consciousness, and was sexually assaulted.⁷

Constand filed a police report in January 2005. Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor investigated but concluded there was “insufficient credible and admissible evidence” to secure a conviction. He declined to prosecute, intending the decision to strip Cosby of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in Constand’s civil lawsuit.⁸ Castor memorialized the decision in a February 2005 press release. No formal written agreement was executed.⁹

Relying on that assurance, Cosby sat for four days of civil depositions without invoking the Fifth Amendment. He admitted obtaining Quaaludes in the 1970s with the intent of giving them to women he wanted to have sex with.¹⁰ Constand settled the civil suit in 2006 for $3.38 million, and the deposition was sealed.⁸

2014–2015: The Buress Routine and the Unsealed Deposition

In October 2014, comedian Hannibal Buress performed a stand-up bit at a Philadelphia club calling Cosby a rapist and telling the audience, “Google ‘Bill Cosby rape.'”¹¹ A cellphone recording went viral. Within weeks, women came forward in quick succession, including Tarshis, Serignese, Moritz, Ferrigno, and Dickinson.¹² By July 2015, New York Magazine ran a cover story featuring 35 accusers.³

Also in July 2015, a judge unsealed the 2005 civil deposition transcripts and released them to the Associated Press. The judge reasoned that because of Cosby’s public role as a “moralist” on family life and education, the public had a significant interest in his sworn testimony.¹⁰ The Quaalude admission became public.

Criminal Charges, Mistrial, and Conviction

Kevin Steele, running for Montgomery County District Attorney, campaigned in part on criticizing Castor’s 2005 decision. After winning, Steele charged Cosby on December 30, 2015, with felony aggravated indecent assault in the Constand case, days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired.¹³

The first trial began in June 2017 at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown before Judge Steven T. O’Neill, with a jury of seven men and five women selected from Pittsburgh because of pretrial publicity. Prosecutors presented Constand’s testimony, deposition excerpts, and one additional accuser, Kelly Johnson, who described a similar alleged 1996 assault.¹⁴ Cosby did not testify. After more than 52 hours of deliberation over six days, the jury declared itself “hopelessly deadlocked,” and O’Neill declared a mistrial on June 17, 2017.¹⁵

The retrial began on April 9, 2018. Judge O’Neill allowed five additional accusers to testify about similar alleged assaults, including Heidi Thomas, Chelan Lasha, Janice Baker-Kinney, and Lise-Lotte Lublin.³ On April 26, 2018, the jury found Cosby guilty on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault: penetration with lack of consent, penetration while the victim was unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant.¹⁶ On September 25, 2018, O’Neill sentenced Cosby to three to ten years in state prison and classified him as a “sexually violent predator,” a designation carrying lifetime sex-offender registration.¹⁷

The 2021 Reversal

On June 30, 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated Cosby’s conviction in a 79-page opinion. The reasoning focused on Castor’s 2005 non-prosecution decision. The court found Castor had intended the decision to be permanent and to induce Cosby to testify freely in the civil case. Because Cosby relied on that assurance in waiving his Fifth Amendment rights, the court held that using his deposition statements against him at trial was “an affront to fundamental fairness.”⁹ The justices barred any retrial.¹⁸

Cosby was released from SCI Phoenix after serving roughly two and a half years. He posted a statement on social media: “I have always maintained my innocence.”¹⁶ Constand called the ruling “disappointing” and said she was never consulted about the non-prosecution decision that formed its basis.¹⁹

Civil Lawsuits and Look-Back Laws

Because most of the 60-plus allegations dated back decades, criminal prosecution was impossible in the majority of cases. Several states responded by passing “look-back window” laws that reopened the courthouse doors for civil claims.

California temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for civil sexual abuse cases and abolished its criminal statute of limitations for most felony sex crimes in 2016.²⁰
Nevada’s Senate Bill 129, signed in June 2023, eliminated the civil statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases involving adults, replacing a two-year limit.²¹
New York’s Adult Survivors Act opened a one-year window running from late 2022 through November 2023 for adult survivors of sexual offenses to file civil claims regardless of when the abuse occurred.²²
New Jersey passed a 2019 law providing a two-year window for older claims.⁵

Judy Huth Verdict, June 2022

On June 21, 2022, a Los Angeles County jury found Cosby liable for sexually abusing Judy Huth in 1975 at the Playboy Mansion, when she was 16. The jury found Cosby intentionally caused harmful sexual contact, reasonably believed Huth was under 18, and was motivated by “unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in a minor.” Huth received $500,000 in compensatory damages. No punitive damages were imposed.²³

Donna Motsinger Verdict, March 2026

On March 23, 2026, a Santa Monica jury found Cosby liable for drugging and sexually assaulting Donna Motsinger, a former Sausalito waitress, in 1972. Motsinger testified that Cosby invited her to a comedy show at the Circle Star Theatre in San Carlos, gave her wine and two pills she believed were aspirin, and she lost consciousness, waking at home partially undressed.²⁴ The trial included testimony from Constand, Valentino, and Baker-Kinney, and a video deposition in which Cosby acknowledged obtaining Quaaludes by prescription and intending to give them to women for sex.²⁵

The jury found “malice, oppression, or fraud” and awarded $59.25 million, split between $19.25 million for pain and suffering and $40 million in punitive damages.²⁶ On May 29, 2026, Judge Bradley Phillips denied Cosby’s motions for a new trial and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.²⁷ Attorney Jennifer Bonjean has said the defense plans to appeal.

Other Active and Recent Cases

Seven women who alleged Cosby defamed them by publicly calling them liars reached a confidential settlement in federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts, by April 2019.²⁸ Lili Bernard filed a $125 million lawsuit in New Jersey in October 2021.²⁹ Victoria Valentino sued in Los Angeles in June 2023 under California’s expanded statute.³⁰ Joan Tarshis filed in New York County Supreme Court in November 2023 under the Adult Survivors Act.²²

In Nevada, ten women filed a joint civil suit in federal court under SB 129, alleging assaults between the late 1970s and early 1990s. U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro denied Cosby’s motion to dismiss, ruling the law did not violate his due process rights.³¹ The Nevada Supreme Court narrowed one claim in February 2026, ruling that forced manual masturbation does not meet the state’s legal definition of “sexual penetration,” but the broader case remains pending.³² In New York, a suit by an anonymous former NBC intern alleging a 1984 assault survived Cosby’s motion to dismiss in July 2025, with the court upholding the constitutionality of the Adult Survivors Act.³³

Where the Case Stands

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling barred any further criminal prosecution of Cosby in the Constand case, and most of the underlying allegations against him are outside criminal statutes of limitations. The active litigation is civil. As of 2026, Cosby is 88, legally blind, and continues to deny all allegations of sexual assault. Multiple civil suits remain pending or on appeal, including the Motsinger judgment, Bernard’s New Jersey suit, Valentino’s California suit, Tarshis’s New York suit, and the Nevada joint action.

1
Los Angeles Times. Bill Cosby: A Timeline of Allegations
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WPXI. A Timeline of Bill Cosby’s Sexual Assault Allegations, Charges
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NBC News. 60 Women Accused Bill Cosby
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Washington Post. Bill Cosby: Women Accusers
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NBC Philadelphia. Bill Cosby’s Case Explained
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PBS NewsHour. Why Bill Cosby’s Conviction Was Overturned
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CNBC. Court Overturns Bill Cosby’s Sex Assault Conviction
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ABC7 New York. Bill Cosby Conviction Overturned, Release, Sentencing
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NBC News. Bill Cosby’s Conviction Was Hailed as MeToo Victory
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NBC News. Bill Cosby Faces New Sexual Assault Lawsuits as States Extend Statutes of Limitations
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CNN. Bill Cosby Accuser Lawsuit, New York Adult Survivors Act
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NPR. Civil Jury Finds Bill Cosby Sexually Abused Teenager in 1975
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New York Times. Bill Cosby Verdict Lawsuit, Donna Motsinger
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Yahoo News. Woman Says Bill Cosby Drugged Her
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Deadline. Bill Cosby Guilty, Rape, 1972
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Los Angeles Times. Judge Denies Bill Cosby’s Request for New Trial in Los Angeles County
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PBS NewsHour. Court Filings Show Bill Cosby Agreed to Settle 7 Defamation Cases
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WHYY. Bill Cosby Accuser Files Lawsuit Against Comedian
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New York Times. Bill Cosby Lawsuit, Sexual Assault
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Courthouse News. Bill Cosby Can’t Dodge Lawsuit by 10 Women After Nevada Lifted Statute of Limitation
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Courthouse News. Nevada High Court Defines Sexual Penetration in Bill Cosby Civil Case
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New York Courts. Anonymous v. Cosby, 2025 NY Slip Op 25163