Cosby victim 'paralysed' by drugs during alleged assault

The criminal complaint against Bill Cosby details many unwanted advances from the comedian culminating in an incident where he is alleged to have drugged and then sexually assaulted a woman while she was unconscious.

The document sets out how Mr Cosby and Andrea Constand met on Temple University's campus in Philadelphia and became friends - the victim says she considered Mr Cosby a mentor.

According to the complaint, Mr Cosby tried to initiate sexual encounters with the victim on two occasions and she refused. The alleged assault occurred in early 2004 when the victim agreed to go to Mr Cosby's house to discuss her career and future.

She told him she was drained and he said he wanted her to relax.

Prosecutors allege that the victim protested when Mr Cosby offered her a glass of wine, saying she had not eaten that day.

He urged her to drink wine anyway, the victim says in her testimony, so she drank a few sips along with the pills.

Within 30 minutes, she says she experienced blurred vision and had trouble speaking. Mr Cosby then told her to lie down on the couch and relax.

During that time she was lying on the couch, she says she was aware of Mr Cosby moving toward her, touching her breasts and genitals, and making her touch his genitals.

She says she did not consent to any of the acts, that she could not speak, and that she felt "frozen" and "paralysed".

She awoke in the middle of the night still inside Mr Cosby's home.

The criminal complaint outlines how the victim - and her family - challenged Mr Cosby over the alleged assault and how he came to provide his own version of events.

In his testimony to police, Mr Cosby admits that she came over that night and that he gave her pills to relax. He says they were Benadryl.

He admits there was a sexual encounter, but describes the acts as consensual.

And he tells police their relationship prior to the assault could be characterised as both social and romantic.

Prosecutors argue that Mr Cosby knowingly drugged the victim, seeking to render her defenceless.

They note in the complaint that he has never identified what the pills were. And they point out that in his testimony he admitted to using Quaaludes on other women.

Explaining why they are bringing the charge, they conclude: