Bill Cosby has been sentenced to three to 10 years in prison after being convicted in April of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand.
The disgraced comedian, 81, appeared at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, September 25, but he did not make a statement during the hearing. In addition to the sentence, Judge Steven O’Neill deemed Cosby a “sexually violent predator,” meaning he must undergo lifetime counseling and appear on a sex offender registry.
He has been denied bail and will be immediately transported to state prison.
Cosby faced a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, 10 for each of the three counts of aggravated indecent assault with which he had been convicted.
The Cosby Show alum, who was once known as “America’s Dad,” has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 60 women. Constand’s case is the only one that has resulted in criminal charges against the actor, who has long maintained his innocence.
The former Temple University employee, 45, testified over two days in mid-April that Cosby gave her wine and three blue pills to “take the edge off” before he sexually assaulted her at his home near Philadelphia in January 2004.
“When the sexual assault happened, I was a young woman brimming with confidence and looking forward to a future bright with possibilities,” she wrote in a five-page victim impact statement submitted to the court this week. “Now, almost 15 years later, I’m a middle-aged woman who’s been stuck in a holding pattern for most of her adult life, unable to heal fully or to move forward.”
Cosby, whose first trial ended in a hung jury in June 2017, had remained out of prison on $1 million bail since April’s verdict, but he had not been permitted to leave his home without written permission from officials. His lawyers previously said that they plan to appeal his convictions due to his declining health and past philanthropic efforts.
The comic’s wife, Camille Cosby, and their daughters Erika, Errin and Evin stood by him throughout the case. Camille, 74, released a lengthy, blistering statement after her husband’s conviction five months ago, in which she said in part, “This is mob justice, not real justice.”
The Emmy winner’s sentencing marks the first major conviction of the #MeToo era.
