Posted on: February 1, 2024, 10:31h.
Last updated on: February 1, 2024, 11:43h.
The Westgate Las Vegas has been named as the scene of a new sexual assault lawsuit against Bill Cosby. In the civil suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, Los Angeles resident Chelan Lasha accuses the disgraced former TV star of drugging and sexually assaulting her when she was 17.
According to the lawsuit, the incident happened in October 1986 in the Elvis Presley Suite on the top floor of the former Las Vegas Hilton (now the Westgate), where Lasha worked. The suite, which no longer exists, was where Presley stayed while performing at the resort through 1976.
A change in Nevada law removed the statute of limitation on sexual assault in civil cases, opening the possibility of further legal action against Cosby.
Lasha’s lawsuit alleges sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of a minor, battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment.
Lasha, who is now 54, said she was lured to the suite for a photo shoot and script reading, thinking that Cosby was offering her advice on acting and modeling.
After a photographer took shots of Lasha and left, the suit alleges, Cosby gave her a blue capsule, explaining that it was an antihistamine to help with her apparent sinus issue, as well as a glass of Amaretto.
“Plaintiff took the pill as Cosby had instructed because she trusted him and thought he was a good man,” the lawsuit states.
While practicing script-reading with a vocal coach, Cosby offered another glass of Amaretto, according to the suit. When the coach left, Cosby ushered Lasha into a bedroom, then laid her down on a bed he got into beside her.
Once Lasha realized she could not move, the lawsuit alleges, Cosby “started touching Plaintiff’s breasts and nipples and was humping on her leg and grunting.” Before losing consciousness, Lasha felt Cosby ejaculating on her leg.
According to the suit, Lasha was roused from sleep by Cosby, who clapped his hands repeatedly and yelled: “Daddy says wake up!”
According to the lawsuit, Lasha found herself naked with her clothes on a dresser alongside a stack of $100 bills, and was told by Cosby to “get dressed” and “leave now.”
Though 16 is the age of consent in Nevada, the lawsuit states that Lasha “never consented to having sex with Cosby.”
Victim Was Cultivated
According to the lawsuit, Cosby had been cultivating his victim for two years. Lasha met him at 15, she said, because her stepmother worked for a company that did business with Cosby. She claims Cosby visited their North Las Vegas home on at least four occasions, often bringing Jello pudding pops as a gift.
Cosby promised the stepmother to be a “father figure” to Lasha because her parents were in and out of prison, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for severe psychological and emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment, and humiliation suffered from the alleged attack.
The 86-year-old former “Cosby Show” star has now been accused of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment by more than 60 women. He has denied all the allegations.
Cosby, the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era, spent nearly three years in a Pennsylvania state prison before a higher court threw out the conviction and released him in 2021. In that case, brought on behalf of a Temple University official in 2004, a judge ruled that the prosecutor was bound by his predecessor’s agreement not to charge Cosby.
