US comedian Bill Cosby's lawyer says the sexual assault charge against him is unjustified and will "mount a vigorous defence".
The 78-year-old did not enter a plea as he was accused of a felony assault charge in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on Wednesday (local time).
His bail has been set at US$1 million and he posted 10 percent of this in cash, CNN reports.
The charge is in relation to a 2004 accusation involving a former Temple University employee.
A preliminary hearing has been set for January 14, and Cosby has surrendered his passport to the prosecutor.
Following his appearance, attorneys for Cosby released a statement saying the charge was "unjustified".
"The charge by the Montgomery County District Attorney's office came as no surprise, filed 12 years after the alleged incident and coming on the heels of a hotly contested election for this county's DA during which this case was made the focal point.
"Make no mistake, we intend to mount a vigorous defence against this unjustified charge and we expect that Mr Cosby will be exonerated by a court of law."
Cosby had previously said under oath he had a consensual sexual encounter with the woman.
Dozens of women then came forth alleging Cosby had assaulted them, in some instances back to the 1970s, which re-opened the case.
Cosby was sued in 2005 by Andrea Constand, who was an employee at Temple University at the time of the alleged assault.
She settled for an undisclosed sum after no charges were brought.
She said she was tricked into taking drugs before being sexually assaulted by Cosby, the BBC reports.
However, Cosby has repeatedly denied the allegations.
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