Bill Cosby sexual assault case to go ahead, judge rules

Mr Cosby's next date in court was scheduled for March 8

Common Pleas Judge Steven O'Neill ruled on Wednesday that a sexual assault case against Bill Cosby will proceed. (Ed Hille/The Philadelphia Inquirer/Associated Press)

A sexual assault case against Bill Cosby will move forward, a judge ruled on Wednesday.

The two-hour hearing ended with the ruling from Common Pleas Judge Steven O'Neill. The case will now move to a preliminary hearing against the disgraced 78-year-old actor formerly known as “America’s Dad.”

Cosby is accused of assaulting former Temple University basketball employee Andrea Constand in 2004 — he could face three years in prison.

The actor's lawyers argued that they would never have allowed him to testify in 2005 if they knew he could be criminally charged. Then, the actor admitted to obtaining drugs with the intention on giving them to women he planned to have sex with.

"In this case, the prosecution should be stopped in its tracks," Cosby's lawyer Chris Tayback said, according to the Associated Press. "Really what we're talking about here is honoring a commitment."

More than 50 women have accused the actor of sexual assault over the years.

Cosby's next date in court was scheduled for March 8.