Whenever life gets a little overwhelming, Victoria Valentino heads out to her garden in Altadena for a moment of calm. 

"Nature has always been a healing factor in my life," she said. 

But that tranquility was interrupted Wednesday morning with a stunning phone call telling her that Bill Cosby had been released from prison. 

"It was just outrageous," she said. "I just couldn't believe it."

That's because back in 1969, Valentino, then a 26-year-old Playboy centerfold and aspiring singer, said Cosby drugged her and her friend at a dinner before driving them to a nearby apartment. 

According to Victoria, she tried to stop Cosby from assaulting her unconscious friend, which provoked the comedian to attack her instead. 

"Once he was finished with me, I asked, 'How are we going to get home?' she recalled. "'Call a cab,' and pointed to the phone and slammed out of there." 

The decision to release him, she said, felt like a "gut punch." 

"As the day grew and I was doing one interview after another, the anger grew, and I was just becoming outraged," she said. "By the end of the day, I was just so angry and [the only thing] I could think about, you know, they keep talking about his justice. But what about justice for us?"

Cosby, who has always maintained his innocence, had served more than two years of a three to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia. But on Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that his due process rights were violated. Cosby was then released after his conviction's swiftly overturned. 

"I haven't had much time to really process it, but I think I've gone from being stunned to dismay to infuriation to impotent rage, anger, and then a feeling of hopelessness because of the legal system," Valentino said. 

Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era, giving the movement a much-needed shot in the arm. But his more than 50 accusers fear that this ruling could keep sex assault survivors from coming forward in the future. 

"I'm disgusted frankly," Valentino said. "However, we are stronger than a broken judicial system. And we will keep speaking, and we will still be standing shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with each other."