TOLEDO, Ohio — While many fans and supporters cheered Bill Cosby's Wednesday release from prison after three years, a local woman had a much different reaction.
"I was super shocked. I initially got hysterical. I cried and was upset," said Patte O'Connor, who received the news in a text from a neighbor. "But then I calmed down and talked to a friend. But I was shocked all day."
In 2019, Philadelphia Daily News reporter Nicole Weisensee Egan identified O’Connor as the Jane Doe No. 6 in Andrea Constand’s civil lawsuit that she filed against Cosby in 2005. The sides reached a settlement in 2006.
The revelation came out in Weisensee’s book, “Chasing Cosby: The Downfall of America’s Dad."
O’Connor was just out of grad school at Bowling Green State University in 1984 when she said she was asked to host Cosby prior to a show at Clemson University in South Carolina.
She said the pair stopped for burgers and a couple of Cokes after picking him up at the airport, before returning to Cosby’s hotel room to relax before the show.
"You see that big personality on TV. He didn't bring that to me when we met one-on-one. He was very serious. He was very intellectual," O'Connor said. "He was fun. But he was not America's Dad in person. He met me where I was at - fresh out of grad school. He met me on a philosophical, intellectual level."
But the experience took a dark turn later in the night. O'Connor said Cosby kissed her, and then she passed out. When she awakened, Cosby was in the shower. She said she believes she was drugged and sexually assaulted.
It's a similar story that many women have told against Cosby. The actor and comedian was convicted in 2018 on charges of drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand in 2004. Constand settled a civil suit against Cosby in 2006 for $3.38 million.
O'Connor was the woman listed as "Jane Doe No. 6" in the lawsuit.
Prior to the filing of the civil suit, District Attorney Bruce Castor Jr. issued a news release, saying that he would not pursue criminal charges against Cosby. At that point, Cosby provided a deposition in Constand's civil case.
A later district attorney reversed Castor's decision and brought charges against Cosby, who will turn 84 later this month.
His testimony in the deposition - about giving women Quaaludes in previous years in an attempt to have sex with them - was entered as testimony in his criminal trial. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices ruled that since he wrongly believed he would not be prosecuted that he gave up his right not to testify against himself.
"I 100 percent-plus thought he was going to die in prison, and that - I'll be honest - is what I hoped for," O'Connor said.
When she got the news of his release, it resulted in a restless night.
"It happened so long ago to me. But it was so invasive and strong. I went through a period of denial, and I recognized it. But it gets in your DNA," O'Connor said. "It is never going to leave me until I die. It has become a part of who I am."
As upsetting as Cosby's release is to her, she believes it has the potential of reviving the #MeToo movement.
"(Harvey) Weinstein and (Jeffery) Epstein ... everything died down," she said. "It's been quiet for a while. I have to be positive about it. And I think it gives it a shot in the arm and raises awareness."
And she has a message for those who have been sexually assaulted.
"Speak out. Tell somebody. No matter how difficult it is, speak," she said. "Use your voice. Use your power you have to speak on the unjust act that happened on you."