Bill Cosby loses appeal bid, to face sexual assault trial

US television legend Bill Cosby goes on trial in May in Pennsylvania to face the only criminal charges against him amid a flurry of sexual assault allegations, most of them decades old.

The May 24 preliminary hearing was announced on Tuesday, a day after the Pennsylvania superior court rejected Cosby’s appeal to dismiss the case.

The 78-year-old megastar-turned-pariah is expected to appear at the hearing.

Cosby posted $1 million bail in December without entering a plea in the case brought against him by Andrea Constand, a former employee of Temple University’s basketball team in Philadelphia who says the entertainer forced himself on her at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.

If found guilty, Cosby could face up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Cosby also suffered another setback on Tuesday, when he lost his bid to force New York magazine’s publisher to release unedited interviews, reporters’ notes and other materials used for a cover story in July 2015 about 35 women who said he sexually assaulted them.

US district judge Paul Gardephe ruled against Cosby in that case. Cosby’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More than 50 women have publicly alleged sexual abuse at the hands of the once beloved comedian, who attained his greatest fame for his role as a lovable obstetrician and family man in the hit 1980s sitcom The Cosby Show.

The allegations span four decades, but the vast majority cannot be prosecuted because they have expired under statutes of limitations.