Cosby accuser sues again, claiming Hugh Hefner conspired in assault

[May 18, 2016]   By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A woman who has accused Bill Cosby of drugging and molesting her at a Playboy Mansion party in 2008, when she was a minor, has filed a second lawsuit accusing Playboy founder Hugh Hefner of conspiring in the assault.

Chloe Goins, one of dozens of women who have made allegations against Cosby, 78, claimed in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that Hefner was liable because he hosted the party and suggested she and a friend have drinks with the comic.

"Additionally, defendant Hefner knew or should have known that defendant Cosby over the years had a propensity for intoxicating and or drugging young women and taking advantage of them sexually and against their will or while they were unconscious," Goins asserted in the lawsuit.

A spokesman for Cosby declined to comment on the lawsuit. Representatives for Hefner, 90, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday afternoon.

In October 2015 Goins, who has said she was 17 at the time of the alleged assault, sued Cosby in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, claiming "childhood sexual abuse" and seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

The New York Daily News reported that Goins, now 26, withdrew that case in February as she prepared to file the new action naming Hefner.

Goins' attorney, Spencer Kuvin, could not immediately be reached for comment on the lawsuit.

Los Angeles prosecutors in January declined to file criminal charges against Cosby in connection with the alleged incident, citing insufficient evidence and the statute of limitations.

Goins is among more than 50 women who have made accusations against Cosby that include drugging, sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape.

In most cases, the incidents date back decades, putting them outside the statute of limitations for legal action.

Last month a California judge refused Cosby's second attempt to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a woman who accused the entertainer of sexually abusing her at the Playboy Mansion when she was 15.

In New York, a federal judge ruled against Cosby's effort to compel the publisher of New York magazine to provide access to unedited interviews of six women who are suing him.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb)

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