Bill Cosby will be tried on 2004 sex-assault charges

A Pennsylvania judge has denied Bill Cosby’s latest bid to have sexual assault charges against him thrown out. The 78-year-old comedian must stand trial.

Judge Steven O’Neill rejected Cosby’s arguments that prosecutors violated his rights by refusing to call the accuser, Andrea Constand, as a witness at a preliminary hearing in May, thus shielding her from cross-examination.

“This case shall proceed to trial on those counts,” O’Neill said at the conclusion of a three-hour hearing in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.

Once one of the most beloved US entertainers, thanks to his family-friendly persona, Cosby is facing accusations of sexual assault from dozens of women, stretching back decades.

Constand’s allegation, that Cosby assaulted her at his home in 2004, is the only criminal prosecution against him, as most of the other claims are too old to produce charges.