Investigation into Bill Cosby sex assault claims launched by LAPD

Around 15 women have accused Bill Cosby of historic sex crimes

Sexual assault claims made against veteran comedian Bill Cosby are being investigated by police.

The Los Angeles Police Department had a 90-minute meeting with Judy Huth yesterday, who is suing the 77-year-old entertainer for sexual battery amid allegations made by around 15 different women.

Her civil action filed three days ago claims that Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion in about 1974 when she was under age. The comedian filed a counter-claim of $33,000 against her and denies the allegations.

She said that she made the claims recently as she was not aware of the psychological impact the alleged incident had on her until now – which makes the lawsuit exempt from the statute of limitations.

Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck on Thursday urged potential victims of sex abuse by Cosby to speak to detectives, regardless of whether their claims would be outside the statute.

Cosby's lawyer, Martin Singer, alleged that Ms Huth's lawyers Gloria Allred and Marc Strecker were involved in extortion and said the claimant had attempted to sell her story to a newspaper a decade earlier.

Mr Singer's said that Mr Strecker first demanded $100,000 (£64,500) for Ms Huth to drop the case against Cosby, then raised it to $250,000 (£161,000) as more women came forward accusing him of historical sexual offences.

More than 15 women in recent weeks have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct, ranging from incidents of groping to drugging and raping. He has never been charged with a crime and his lawyers have denied allegations.

Barbara Bowman, one of Cosby's accusers, came out with claims in interviews that Cosby sexually assaulted her, and also in a Washington Post online column, writing that “Cosby won my trust as a 17-year-old aspiring actress in 1985, brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times”.

Former supermodel Janice Dickinson was another of the women to accuse Cosby of sex attacks, claiming he drugged and raped her in 1982.

Cosby's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, that he received in 1977, was cleaned up yesterday after the word "Rapist" was written on it three times.

A former Playboy bunny, PJ Masten, claims Cosby drugged and raped her in 1979 said she wanted to help stop the comedian from abusing others. She told CNN that she woke up naked and bruised in a bed in Chicago after Cosby gave her an alcoholic drink.