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The best thing to come out of the sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby.

At least some good has come from the sexual assault allegations levelled at comedian Bill Cosby: California has now put an end to the statute of limitations on rape reporting.

Victims of rape, child sexual abuse and other sex crimes previously only had 10 years to file charges, but as of next year that will be lifted, bringing the state in to line with 17 others in the US.

The Justice for Victims Act, which was signed by the state’s governor Jerry Brown yesterday, was introduced after prosecutors were unable to act upon historical allegations against Cosby dating back to the 1960s, reports The Huffington Post.

Dozens of women across California and the US claim to have been assaulted by the 79-year-old, however he currently only faces trial in the north-eastern state of Pennsylvania.

Cosby has pleaded not guilty in that case (trial to begin in June), and has publicly denied all other allegations.

Six of Cosby’s accusers testified in favour of the California bill earlier this year, reports The Huffington Post. However, the new law is not retroactive, so the women won’t be able to bring cases because of it.

California is not the first US state to have changed legislation in response to the Cosby case: Colorado doubled the amount of time sexual assault victims have to seek charges from 10 to 20 years, and Nevada from four to 20, reports AP.

The new law “tells every rape and sexual assault victim in California that they matter and that, regardless of when they are ready to come forward, they will always have an opportunity to seek justice in a court of law,” California Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, said in a statement.

“Rapists should never be able to evade legal consequences simply because an arbitrary time limit has expired. There must never be an expiration date on justice!”

Australian states and territories currently have no limitations on sexual assault reporting.