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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A former Playboy Playmate filed court papers against comedian Bill Cosby Thursday, alleging he drugged and raped her in 1969 in his office, which was decorated with framed posters of himself from his role in the NBC television series "I Spy."
The plaintiff Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit -- which was submitted to the court but not yet officially filed -- is Victoria Valentino, also known as Victoria Carbe-Chen. She seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in her proposed complaint, which alleges sexual assault and battery.
"This case is about a prominent actor and comedian who used his notoriety and status to sexually assault an up-and-coming female artist," Valentino's court papers state.
An attorney for Cosby could not be immediately reached.
Valentino says she met Cosby, now 85, in 1969 while auditioning for an acting role and showed him a photo of her late 6-year-old son, who had drowned. The two met again along with a friend of the plaintiff later that year at Sneaky Pete's, a new Sunset Strip steakhouse, where Cosby put a pill next to the still emotionally distraught Valentino's glass, saying, "It will make us all feel better," the court papers state.
Valentino ingested the pill as well as a second Cosby put in her mouth and he also provided one to her friend, the court papers state. He took the two women by car to an office, where both became unconscious, the court papers state.
When the drowsy plaintiff partially awoke and believed Cosby was about to sexually assault her friend, she tried to distract him and was assaulted by the comedian herself, the court papers allege.
The two women later ran out of the office and went to Valentino's home via a cab, the court papers state.
Cosby admitted in a 2005 deposition that he used quaaludes on young women with whom he desired sex, the court papers state.
"Bill Cosby exploited me when I was at my lowest point and was consumed by grief," Valentino said in a statement. "Not only did he assault me, but the trauma caused my career in the performing arts to completely derail. The trauma he inflicted upon me affects not only me, but my children and grandchildren."
Valentino further said that breaking her silence serves as her legacy to her family and shows those survivors who have yet to find their voices that hope and healing are possible.