Many of the dozens of Bill Cosby accusers have been lobbying to expand the statutes of limitations that prevented them from bringing complaints against the comedian; because it often takes survivors many years to come forward, they say it makes sense.
And in California, that effort and the publicity around the Cosby case has led to a major piece of legislation that passed both houses of the state legislature.
The California Assembly on Thursday passed a bill to end the time limit for prosecuting rape and other felony sex crimes, paving the way for the legislation to reach the governor before the session ends. The Assembly approved the bill 70-0. SB 813 now goes to the state Senate, which passed an earlier version of the legislation 33-0 in June. If the governor signs the bill, crimes including rape and continuous sexual child abuse would no longer have a statute of limitations and could be prosecuted at any time.
Cosby is facing his first criminal trial on the assault cases in Pennsylvania.