Bill Cosby ordered to stand trial in sex assault case

A US judge has ordered actor and comedian Bill Cosby to stand trial on charges of sexual assault.

Mr Cosby, 78, is accused of drugging and molesting a former Temple University employee in his home near Philadelphia in 2004.

The case was reopened last year after more than 40 women came forward with similar accusations. No trial date has been set.

Mr Cosby has maintained that all of the encounters were consensual.

During the hearing, Mr Cosby's lawyer had a heated exchanged with the judge over police reading a statement from the accuser, Andrea Constand.

Brian McMonagle argued that Ms Constand, who lives in Toronto, should have testified in person and called her statement "hearsay".

Ms Constand described how Mr Cosby allegedly sexually violated her after giving her three blue pills. She said the pills made her dizzy and made her legs "like jelly".

"I told him, 'I can't talk, Mr Cosby'. I started to panic," she said.

Mr Cosby said in a statement read in court that she never told him to stop during the encounter.