10-year-old Bill Cosby admission revealed: Why now?

The Associated Press went to court to obtain the sealed 2005 court documents. Bill Cosby's attorneys fought the request, saying that the contents were 'terribly embarrassing.'

A decade ago, Bill Cosby, the American stand-up comedian and actor best known for his 1984 to 1992 starring role on "The Cosby Show," admitted to obtaining quaaludes with the purpose of giving them to young women who he wanted to have sex with.

The confession came in the form of a court deposition from a sexual-abuse case filed by the former basketball player and Temple University employee, Andrea Constand.  Ms. Constand had accused Mr. Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her. The case was settled out of court in 2006.

The court documents from that case had been sealed, but the Associated Press petitioned the court to release them in light of recent accusations from more than two dozen women who said that the comedian had engaged in sexual misconduct.

Under Pennsylvania common law, court documents are typically unsealed after two years, unless the parties can demonstrate "good cause exists where disclosure will result in clearly defined and serious injury to the party requesting closure," according to the Digital Media Law Project.

Mr. Cosby’s lawyers originally argued against the release of the deposition, claiming that it would be "terribly embarrassing" for the actor and could "prejudice him in the eyes" of jurors tasked with hearing pending cases. But US District Judge Eduardo Robreno decided to unseal some of the documents anyway.

"The stark contrast between Bill Cosby, the public moralist and Bill Cosby, the subject of serious young allegations concerning improper (and perhaps criminal) conduct is a matter as to which the AP — and by extension the public — has a significant interest," Judge Robreno wrote.

Over the years, Cosby had publicly opined on a variety of topics including child-rearing and family life.

Despite the numerous accusations against him, Cosby has never been charged with a crime. In the case of most of the accusations, the statute of limitations has expired.

Attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing several of the women accusing Cosby in court, said that she plans to use the admission in her cases.

"When you got the quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?" Constand’s lawyer asked in the court papers.

"Yes," Cosby replied.

This report contains material from the Associated Press.