Former Mrs. America, two other women accuse Cosby

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Three more women on Wednesday accused comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault, raising the number of accusers to over 40.

The women, one a former Mrs. America, made the announcement at a press conference in the Los Angeles office of attorney Gloria Allred. The two other women were a former waitress at a jazz club Cosby frequented and a woman seeking his help to appear in Playboy magazine.

"Although it is too late for these three new accusers to take any legal action against Mr. Cosby because of the statute of limitations, these three courageous women want Mr. Cosby to be accountable for what they say was his misconduct towards them," Allred said. Allred represents 26 of the accusers.

All three gave accounts strikingly similar to those made by dozens of other women.

Lisa Christie, was a model and Mrs. America who appeared on Jell-O commercials with Cosby and was an extra on The Cosby Show. Christie said Cosby met her at a Chicago hotel in 1989 and asked her to kiss him "like a boyfriend" as part of an acting exercise. When she resisted, she said Cosby angrily told her, "You're never going to make it in this business unless you sleep with me."

Pamela Abeyta went to Las Vegas in 1979 to meet the comedian, hoping to get a job with Playboy. She said he bought her $2,500 in clothes and took her to dinner. There, she believes she was drugged.

"I don't remember leaving the dinner show," Abeyta said. "When I came to, I was lying in Bill Cosby's bed, not my own room. When I came to again, I saw two other naked people in the room by the bed. Bill was sitting on the side of the bed and I blacked out again."

Sharon Van Ert met Cosby in 1976, waiting on him at a jazz club she worked at in Redondo Beach, California. He offered to walk her to her car one night as she left work. Van Ert said she'd had a few drinks and so they sat in her car.

"After a while, Mr. Cosby started getting fresh. He was touching me and rubbing my leg. The next thing I remember, I was waking up in my car. I knew I was drugged because I threw up and I never threw up or drank too much," Van Ert said. "When I got home I realized my panties were missing and I never found them. I believe that Mr. Cosby took them after he assaulted me."

Cosby is scheduled to be deposed Oct. 9 by Allred for one of her other clients in a case dating back to 1974.