California ends statute of limitations for rape over Cosby case

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation ending the US state's 10-year statute of limitations on rape.

The move was prompted by decades-old allegations made by multiple women against actor Bill Cosby.

The change means that from January 2017 there will be no time limit on the prosecution of rape cases.

But it will not work retroactively, or help those who accuse Cosby of crimes committed more than 10 years ago.

Dozens of women have accused the comedian of sexual assaults dating from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Cosby, who starred in the long-running sitcom The Cosby Show, has denied the accusations, saying his sexual encounters were consensual.

He is due to go on trial in June 2017 charged with sexually assaulting a woman in Philadelphia in 2004.