By Doha Madani and Diana Dasrath - NBC News
Bill Cosby is facing new civil lawsuits from women who have accused him of sexual misconduct decades ago, sparked by the passage in states of laws that expand the leeway of sexual assault accusers.
Victoria Valentino, a former Playboy model who has publicly accused Cosby of drugging and raping her in 1969, sued him Thursday, now that California lawmakers have temporarily allowed sexual abuse lawsuits in cases exceeding the ten-year statute of limitations.
Valentino, 80, says he never thought when he reported that he would see some kind of tangible justice in his case.
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"It doesn't matter how much an agreement is reached. If nothing comes out of this, it doesn't matter, because it's never going to replace what was taken from me," Valentino said.
All of the details Valentino shared with NBC News about the alleged incident are also listed in the lawsuit.
She said she met Cosby in 1969 when she auditioned after the death of her 6-year-old son. She said she remembers telling Cosby about the death, a drowning, but didn't hear from him again until she and her roommate bumped into him at Café Figaro in Los Angeles.
"I was shocked, but he saw me sitting there crying, because I was having a hellish day," she said, referring to her grief for her son.
Cosby offered to pay for a spa for her and her roommate, Valentino said, and offered to take them out to dinner afterward. She said she didn't want to go, but found Cosby, who had just starred in the hit series I Spy, seemed sincere in his offer.
"We weren't looking for a date, but when the big star of this popular TV series offers himself to you seemingly out of sympathy, you can't turn him down," he said.
Victoria Valentino, Bill Cosby's accuser, at the Montgomery County courthouse in Pennsylvania on September 25, 2018.Mark Makela/Getty Images
During dinner, Cosby offered her and her roommate a pill and told them it would make them "feel better," Valentino said. Valentino believes Cosby pretended to take the pill and put another one directly in her and her roommate's mouths.
They started feeling unwell and asked to go home, Valentino said. But instead of taking them home, Cosby took them to a house where he told them he wanted to show them his I Spy awards. Valentino believes she fainted after Cosby pulled them out of the car, because she woke up in a room where Cosby was sitting next to her roommate.
"It looked like he was going to pounce on a little mouse," he said. "And then I saw a lump in her pants and I knew I was going to rape her while she was unconscious. I felt very protective of her and tried to distract her."
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He said he started grabbing Cosby, who was out of reach, and couldn't form words in his state. Cosby then approached her, he said, apparently angered by her attempts to stop him.
Valentino said that when she got up, she immediately felt her legs sink and ended up kneeling in front of Cosby, who was in an armchair. Cosby raped her orally and vaginally, according to her account and lawsuit.
Andrew Wyatt, a spokesman for Cosby, accused Valentino in a statement Thursday of having "no evidence or facts" and of going "from town to town" with his allegations. He also alleged that the legislation allowing his lawsuit constituted a violation of Cosby's constitutional rights. Cosby has consistently denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.
"What cemetery can Mr. Cosby visit to dig up potential witnesses to testify on his behalf?" Wyatt said. "America continues to see that this is a formula to make sure that no more black man in America accumulates the American dream that Mr. Cosby secured."
Valentino rejected accusations that the allegations against Cosby, whom 60 women have accused of sexual abuse, had anything to do with his blackness.
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"Andrew Wyatt has tried to make believe that this is a question of race, but it is not," he said, adding that Cosby "was an equal opportunity rapist and probably the most prolific serial rapist of the twentieth century. It's about rape, not race."
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Cosby was convicted in Pennsylvania of three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault in 2018, accused of drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. The case was overturned in 2021. The state Supreme Court overturned the sentence, finding that he was denied protection from self-incrimination.
Cosby has no criminal convictions.
"Hindsight Window" Laws and Potential Lawsuits in Nevada
Valentino's lawsuit was filed under a new California law that created a time limit within which adult victims of sexual assault can seek civil damages even if the statute of limitations has expired. The law expanded previous legislation that extended the statute of limitations for minors who report sexual abuse.
Valentino said she was absolutely stunned when she learned of the change that would allow her to stand up to Cosby in court. He also said he knew he had to take his accusations to the end.
"Murder does not prescribe, and rape is murder of the soul," Valentino said. "It's a life sentence for the victim, so why is the rapist going to get less? The time has come to settle scores."
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Similar measures, called "hindsight windows," have been passed in New York and New Jersey. Five women sued Cosby in New York in December, accusing him of sexual assault, which his representatives have denied.
Cosby was also found civilly liable last year for abusing Judy Huth at the Los Angeles Playboy Mansion in 1975, when she was 16; Her lawyers called her a liar.
Nevada passed a law, SB129, signed Wednesday, eliminating the civil statute of limitations in adult sexual abuse cases, a substantial change from the previous two-year limit. The change is also likely to bring more legal challenges to Cosby, as accuser Lise-Lotte Lublin is a Nevada resident.
Lublin has publicly accused Cosby of drugging her at a Las Vegas hotel in 1989. Her husband, Benjamin Lublin, said they had told him about the incident when they started dating 23 years ago, but that they both saw the situation in a new light after Janice Dickinson reported Cosby for assault.
His wife decided to file a police report in 2014.
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"I had to sit outside, and when she came out, she was crying," Lublin said. "I asked him, 'Well, what's wrong?' And she said they couldn't do anything... And the detective turned to me and said it was because of the statute of limitations. I said, 'What the hell is the prescription?
The couple, born and raised in Nevada, have spent years supporting laws that extend statutes of limitations in their state. When a similar version of SB129 was not approved in 2019, Lublin said, they almost gave up.
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But then the couple went to support Huth in his California case, he said.
"I saw Judy in court with Lise, and we both saw how strong she was and how she was fighting, you know, to seek justice," Lublin said. "That energized us. Because once I saw that, if this was possible in California, then it's possible in Nevada."
Nevada State Senator Lisa Krasner, one of the main sponsors of SB129, said she was motivated to make sure victims and survivors of sexual assault could seek justice. The bill, passed unanimously in the state Senate, would give people time to come to terms with what happened to them and seek justice, Krasner said.
"They still have to appear in court, before a judge and a jury of their peers," Krasner said. "They still have to present evidence. They have yet to prove their case. So they have a lot of hurdles to overcome, but it keeps the doors of the courts open so they can make their case if they want."
It's important for lawmakers to work to ensure people feel they can seek justice, Krasner said.
"Mr. Cosby is a citizen of these United States, but these judges and legislators systematically allow these civil lawsuits to flood their dockets, knowing that these women are not fighting for the victims, but for their addiction to massive amounts of media attention and greed," Wyatt said. Cosby has denied Lublin's allegations.
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Lublin said he and his wife have spoken with an attorney about a future lawsuit against Cosby, as well as have contacted other Cosby accusers who might be interested in a civil case. She also supported Valentino, whom she called a friend, in her case in California.
Lublin described his wife and the other women who have presented themselves as warriors.
"This is personal, because this happened to my wife, and we've been seeking justice for many years because of Cosby," Lublin said. "And this is personal because for decades and decades in Nevada, Bill Cosby has hidden behind the statute of limitations. And that day is over, and we're going for it," he concluded.