Bill Cosby not to face sex assault charges

Entertainer Bill Cosby will not face charges stemming from a woman’s allegation that he fondled her at his mansion after giving her medication that made her woozy, a prosecutor said.

Investigators found insufficient evidence to support the woman’s claims, said Philadelphia District Attorney Bruce Castor.

The woman, who now lives in her native Ontario, told Canadian authorities last month that, after a night out with friends a year ago, Cosby gave her medication that made her dizzy, then fondled her.

She said she later awoke to find her bra undone and her clothes in disarray.

Cosby, 67, denied the allegations. In a statement, his lawyer said Cosby was gratified by the decision.

“Mr Cosby looks forward to moving on with his life,” said Walter Phillips.

Castor has said that the accuser’s year-long delay in coming forward, and her contact with Cosby in the past year, weighed in the comedian’s favour.

The prosecutor said he also reviewed claims by other people that Cosby had “behaved inappropriately” toward them, but that detectives could find no instance “where anyone complained to law enforcement of conduct which would constitute a criminal offence”.

The woman’s lawyer called the evidence strong and blasted Castor for failing to notify her before announcing his decision. The woman is likely to sue Cosby, Dolores Troiani said.

“I think that’s the only avenue open to her,” she said.

“She felt, as we did, that it’s a very strong case and that she was telling the truth and that Mr Castor’s opinion does not change the facts,” she said.

Troiani said her client gave prosecutors tapes of telephone calls between Cosby and the family that bolster the allegations. The calls occurred after her client contacted police, the lawyer said.

The long-married multi-millionaire Cosby – best-known as a warm, wisecracking TV dad – has provoked debate this past year with blunt remarks on personal responsibility aimed at the black community. In 1997, the year his son Ennis was murdered, he acknowledged a brief affair with the mother of a young woman later convicted of extorting him.