Cosby accuser tearfully pleads with Nevada lawmakers to lift statute of limitations on sex assault

The woman is one of more than 20 who have accused Cosby of drugging their drinks and sexually assaulting or groping them.

A woman who alleges that entertainer Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her decades ago tearfully asked that Nevada lawmakers support a bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations, which has prevented her from pursuing criminal charges against him.

Lise-Lotte Lublin, 48, has accused Cosby of giving her alcoholic drinks that caused her to pass out in a Las Vegas hotel in 1989, and that she remembers Cosby stroking her hair. She eventually woke up at home, according to an Associated Press report.

Lublin was in tears as she told lawmakers about the incident, an accusation that echoed those of many other women who have stepped forward to depict the formerly beloved comedian and TV dad as a serial rapist who frequently drugged women before having his way with them.

Lublin said she filed a police report in January, but was told that charges couldn’t be filed because it was too long ago, which prompted her to seek out a lawmaker and ask her to draft legislation removing the statute of limitations, saying she wanted to “empower victims,” according to the AP report.

More than 20 women have so far emerged to accuse Cosby of advances that stretch back decades and also includes alleged incidents from just a few years ago. Cosby hasn’t been charged with any crimes and has denied the allegations, although usually he prefers to ignore them.

Nevada law places the statute of limitations at four years after the incident took place. The bill would remove that restriction and place sexual assault in line with murder and terrorism, which don’t have a statute of limitations.

A lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union in Nevada said that the statute of limitations does serve its purpose, as it helps make sure cases are reviewed before memories of an incident fade or the witnesses die, and another attorney noted that an unlimited statute of limitations creates a situation where people are coming forward and making accusations of things happening decades ago.

The new bill wouldn’t apply retroactively, meaning it wouldn’t help Lublin.