Bill Cosby Accuser Andrea Constand Sues Former D.A. Bruce Castor

Cosby accuser Andrea Constand (via Twitter) / Bruce Castor (via campaign website)

Andrea Constand was the first woman to publicly accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault, claiming in a 2005 civil lawsuit that he drugged and attacked her at his home in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in 2004. And now, more than a decade and dozens more Cosby accusers later, Constand has filed a civil lawsuit against former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor, who declined to file criminal charges against Cosby after Constand went to police in 2005.

Constand’s attorney, Dolores Troiani, who represented her in the lawsuit against Cosby, filed the lawsuit against Castor in Philadelphia’s federal court, accusing Castor of defamation. The lawsuit centers on recent statements made by Castor in the press after his 2005 decision not to prosecute Cosby came under scrutiny. Castor is currently campaigning for his old job, and his opponent has raised the issue repeatedly.

Constand cites an October 21st Associated Press article in which Castor points out alleged discrepancies between what Constand told investigators in 2005 and what she said in her lawsuit against Cosby:

Castor said last month that former Temple University employee Andrea Constand had enhanced her story when she sued Cosby, calling the alleged discrepancy “troublesome for the good guys.” The woman’s lawyer demanded a public apology. Castor stood his ground.

“If the allegations in the civil complaint were contained with that detail in her statement to the police, we might have been able to make a case out of it,” Castor is also quoted as saying.

Constand accuses Castor of stating or implying in multiple news stories that Constand “had been inconsistent in her accusations against Cosby” and that she “exaggerated her claims in a lawsuit and therefore was not to be believed,” according to the allegations in her lawsuit.

Constand is seeking unspecified damages above $150,000. Castor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.