The authorities in Pennsylvania have announced criminal charges against Bill Cosby stemming from a woman’s accusation that he drugged and sexually abused her at his home in a suburb north of Philadelphia, in 2004

Kevin Steele, Montgomery County’s district attorney-elect, said that Cosby faces a felony charge of aggravated indecent assault. He said that the investigation involved a “relationship” between Cosby and the woman, Andrea Constand, that came about from her work with the basketball team at Temple University, Cosby’s alma mater. Cosby became a “mentor” and “friend” to Constand, Steele said, and at one point she went to his home in Cheltenham Township. According to the accusations, Cosby urged her to take pills and drink wine until she was unable to move, after which he committed the assault. “The evidence is strong and sufficient to proceed,” Steele said. He added: “A person in that state cannot give consent.” The criminal charges come after a year of tumult in his career as dozens of women came forward to accuse Cosby, who was once revered as a father figure and popular moralist, of sexually abusing them. Many of those women cheered the decision to prosecute him. Dozens of women have come forward in recent years to accuse Cosby of sexual misconduct and assault.