Bill Cosby, under investigation for possible sexual misconduct, denied claims by a second woman that he drugged and fondled her about 30 years ago. A prosecutor suggested Wednesday that an accusation that old likely wouldn’t be relevant in the current case.
The 67-year-old comedian’s lawyer also blasted the Philadelphia Daily News for printing the accusations by Tamara Green, who was described by the newspaper Tuesday as a model-turned-lawyer who worked for Cosby in California at the time of the alleged encounter.
The report was published as prosecutors mulled whether to file charges against Cosby in the complaint by a former Temple University employee. A decision by Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. could come this week.
Green, 57, told the newspaper that Cosby gave her two pills at a restaurant after she felt ill. She said he then drove her home and tried to undress and kiss her.
Green, who allowed her name to be used, said she came forward this week because her experience closely matched one alleged by the former Temple employee who went to police last month to report that Cosby had given her pills and fondled her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion a year ago.
Green did not return a telephone message left Wednesday at a Ventura, Calif., number believed to be her home.
First Assistant District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman declined Wednesday to comment on whether the investigation would include Green’s complaint. But she said such decades-old allegations can only be used in a very limited number of cases.
“Generally, an accusation from over 30 years ago is not going to be considered admissible in court or relevant to an investigation,” Ferman said.
Cosby’s attorney, Walter M. Phillips Jr., called Green’s allegations were “absolutely false.”
“Mr. Cosby does not know the name Tamara Green or Tamara Lucier (her maiden name) and the incident she describes did not happen,” Phillips said. “It is irresponsible of the Daily News to publish an uncorroborated story of an incident that is alleged to have happened thirty years ago.”
Daily News city editor Kurt Heine said the newspaper stood by its story.
The former Temple employee, who now lives in her native Ontario, Canada, went to Canadian authorities Jan. 13, contending that Cosby gave her some medication that made her feel dizzy, then fondled her at his Cheltenham Township home after a dinner out with friends. She said she later awoke to find her bra undone and her clothes in disarray.
Cosby denies her allegations.
She said she considered Cosby, a Temple alumnus and booster who frequently attends campus events, a friend and mentor.