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Cosby’s accusers say his ’05 admission bolsters their case

Therese Serignese (left), Tamara Green (right), and Linda Traitz (not pictured) contend in their defamation suit that Bill Cosby and his representatives branded them liars after they went public with assault allegations.Associated Press

For Therese Serignese, Linda Traitz, and Tamara Green, this was a week of vindication. It also may signal a turning point in their legal battle with Bill Cosby, the Hollywood star each has said sexually assaulted them decades ago.

On Monday came the startling disclosure in legal documents that Cosby admitted under oath in 2005 that he obtained drugs to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex.

“It validates what we were saying, because a lot of people were calling us liars,” said Traitz, who has sued the comedian in Springfield along with the two other women. “It definitely helps the healing.”

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Dozens of women have stepped forward since late last year to make accusations similar to those of the trio against Cosby — most involving the surreptitious use of drugs. In nearly all the cases, the statute of limitations expired long ago, making criminal prosecution impossible.

But Serignese, Traitz, and Green are among the few to pursue civil claims such as the one they filed against the comedian in Springfield for defamation.

The women in the Springfield suit contend that Cosby and his representatives branded them liars after they went public with assault allegations. Serignese has stated that she was 19 years old in 1976 when Cosby gave her drugs and raped her in a dressing room after a Las Vegas show he headlined. Now 58, she is a nurse living in Florida.

The women’s attorney said he is awaiting a judge’s decision on Cosby’s motion to dismiss their case. “At this point, we can’t comment other than to say it’s certainly a positive step in the search for truth,” said Joseph Cammarata, a Washington, D.C., attorney.

Gloria Allred, a prominent attorney who represents more than a dozen women who allege they were assaulted by Cosby after he drugged them, said the decade-old deposition of Cosby is a game-changer for the court cases against the entertainer, and in the court of public opinion.

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Bill Cosby.EVAN VUCCI/ASSOCIATED PRESS/FILE 2014

“These are words out of his own mouth, an admission,” Allred told the Globe. “It confirms the allegations of many victims who said he used drugs to sexually assault them, and it is very damaging, very telling, and very disturbing, I think, to many, many people.”

Attorney Ellen Zucker, a partner in the Boston firm Burns & Levinson, agrees that Cosby’s admissions support the allegations against him. But she cautions that the civil claim could falter on procedural, not substantive, grounds.

Even if the women do not prevail, Zucker thinks their efforts were not wasted. “What they should be proud about is that they are succeeding in the court of public opinion, and they are being acknowledged now for having had the courage to raise concerns even when many would not listen,” she said.

Cosby’s deposition was released after the Associated Press sought — and a judge ordered — the unsealing of testimony in a civil case filed by Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee who accused Cosby of sexually assaulting her in his Philadelphia home in 2004. Cosby settled that suit for an undisclosed sum.

According to testimony, Cosby admitted to getting seven Quaalude prescriptions to give to women he wanted to have sex with. When Constand’s attorney asked whether he ever gave the powerful sedative to the women without their knowledge, his attorney objected, and Cosby did not have to answer.

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Cosby’s current attorney, Martin Singer, could not be reached for comment this week.

Cosby, 77, whose entertainment career spans half a century, has never been charged criminally and has refused to respond to the claims, saying that people “shouldn’t answer to innuendos.”

While most of the alleged assaults took place decades ago, a 24-year-old California woman told police earlier this year that she was assaulted in 2008 at the Playboy Mansion. Los Angeles police have confirmed that a criminal investigation of Cosby remains open.

The once-popular star has seen his career severely damaged since the allegations surfaced last year. Numerous concerts — including one in Boston in February — have been canceled. NBC halted development of a Cosby sitcom, and various networks have stopping airing reruns of Cosby’s sitcoms. This week Cosby was dropped by his Hollywood agent, and Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando jettisoned a bronze bust of the entertainer.

In the Springfield case, none of the three plaintiffs live in Massachusetts, but they filed in Springfield because Bill and Camille Cosby have lived in nearby Shelburne Falls since purchasing a country home there in 1971.

Green, the lead plaintiff in the defamation suit, is a retired trial attorney living in California. Under instructions by Cammarata not to discuss the case, Green said she is awaiting a decision by US District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni on their case.

“I will be thrilled to bits to talk to you on this issue, and it will happen forthwith upon the judge’s decision,” she said.

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Now 67, Green was one of the first women to publicly accuse Cosby of sexual assault. In 2005, she told her story on the “Today” show and to the Philadelphia Daily News. According to court papers filed in Springfield, Green was an aspiring model in 1970 when Cosby drugged and assaulted her, only stopping when she grabbed a lamp and told him, “You’re going to have to kill me.”

Asked by Today show host Matt Lauer why she didn’t come forward at the time, she said: “You feel no one will believe you. This is the great Bill Cosby.”

Traitz was 18 years old in 1970, working as a waitress in Los Angeles, according to court papers. Cosby allegedly offered her a ride home, but instead took her to the beach, offered her pills from a briefcase, which she declined, and then assaulted her.

In various motions to dismiss the suit, Cosby has cited “constitutionally protected opinions” that “lack defamatory meaning,” has said he is protected by the privilege of self-defense, and that others, not himself, made the statements.

One of Allred’s clients, Judy Huth, has also filed a civil lawsuit against Cosby alleging that he sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion when she was 15 years old. She is now 55.

For those who still question the women’s claims, the recent revelations in the 2005 case might change their minds, Allred said. “I think that case is very important because while public opinion has been against him for the most part, there are still some doubters, and still some supporters of Mr. Cosby having a hard time giving up the image of him as friendly Dr. Huxtable.”

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Bella English can be reached at english@globe.com.