Prosecutors in the US have charged comedian Bill Cosby with aggravated indecent assault over an alleged incident in 2004.
It is the first time Mr Cosby, 78, has been charged with any offence after months of accusations.
Andrea Constand says she was drugged then assaulted at the Philadelphia home of the former US television star.
Dozens of women have accused him of sexual assault, dating back to the 1970s, but he has denied wrongdoing.
Earlier this month he opened a lawsuit against seven of the women, accusing them of defamation.
Prosecution allegations
Single charge of aggravated indecent assault
Incident occurred at Cosby’s home in 2004
Victim “frozen, paralysed, unable to move”
Charge punishable by five to 10 years behind bars and a $25,000 fine
Cosby will be formally charged in court on Wednesday
It is the second time there has been an investigation into Ms Constand’s complaint against the actor, who won acclaim for playing a family doctor and model father in The Cosby Show.
In 2005, after no charges were brought when she first made the accusation, she sued him and settled for an undisclosed sum.
He has previously said under oath he had a consensual sexual encounter with her.
Mr Cosby befriended Ms Constand through her job at Temple University and she came to think of him as “a mentor and a friend” before he allegedly made two sexual advances that were rejected, said prosecutors.
Documents from her lawsuit against the star were sealed until this summer, when damaging testimony was revealed as more women came forward.
The 12-year statute of limitations was only days away from expiring, in January 2016.
Kevin Steele, district attorney for Montgomery County, said they reopened the Constand case after “new information came to light”.
The prosecutors re-interviewed witnesses, examined evidence from the civil case and spoke to other alleged victims before they decided to file criminal charges, Mr Steele’s office said in a statement.
In testimony seen by the New York Times and published in July, Mr Cosby admitted he did sometimes give women a sedative, Quaaludes, when he wanted to have sex with them, but not without their knowledge.
At the height of his fame from The Cosby Show, the comedian was the highest paid entertainer on US television.
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By: BBC