Judge refuses to toss Cosby sexual assault suit

A judge on Wednesday denied, again, Bill Cosby’s request to dismiss the sexual assault lawsuit against him.

Cosby faces three felony charges of second-degree aggravated incident assault stemming from his alleged misconduct against a former Temple University employee Andrea Constand in his suburban Philadelphia home.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill rejected arguments that Cosby was unfairly prejudiced because prosecutors waited more than a decade to bring charges against the entertainer for the 2004 encounter, NBC News reported.

Cosby, 79, faces up to 10 years in prison, though he has maintained the encounter was consensual. He’s currently free on $1 million bail.

O’Neill also rejected a request by Cosby’s lawyers to test the competency of 13 other accusers against the actor who could be called as witnesses, ABC News reported.

This was the second time O’Neill declined to throw out the case against Cosby. Earlier this year, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele claimed he had granted the actor immunity from prosecution in a2005 deposition from a related lawsuit.