© Brendan McDermid / Reuters
Cosby was sentenced on Tuesday over the assault, which took place at his Philadelphia home back in 2004. The sentence was a bit lighter than demanded by prosecution, which urged the judge to put the comedian from five to 10 years behind bars.
"No one is above the law and no one should be treated differently or disproportionately based on where they live or who they are," or based on "wealth, celebrity, philanthropy," Judge Steven O'Neil said Tuesday, sentencing the actor.
O'Neil denied Cosby's lawyers' request for bail pending appeal, and ordered him imprisoned immediately.
Cosby will also have to register as a violent sexual predator, requiring him to attend sex offender counseling, provided he lives long enough to be released from prison. His attorneys have argued he is legally blind and cannot live unassisted.
"I don't remember anyone ever sentencing a blind octogenarian to state prison," his attorney Joseph P. Green said.
A Pennsylvania jury decided in April that Cosby sexually assaulted Andrea Constand and while she was unconscious and intoxicated. Each count could have seen him sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000. Constand, a former Temple University women's basketball administrator, came to Cosby's house seeking "career advice."
"Bill Cosby took my beautiful, healthy young spirit and crushed it," Constand wrote in her victim impact statement, submitted to the court for the sentencing hearing. "He robbed me of my health and vitality, my open nature, and my trust in myself and others."
Whatever happens now, "his decades-long reign of terror as a serial rapist is over," Constand wrote.
Cosby had admitted to giving Constand the anti-allergy medication Benadryl and that their sexual encounter was consensual. Prosecutors declined to press charges in 2005, citing insufficient evidence, but changed their mind and indicted the actor in 2015.
Cosby's first trial ended in a hung jury, but the state pressed charges again after a number of celebrities spoke out against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein at the end of 2017. Accusing Weinstein of rape, sexual abuse and harassment, the claimants used a social media hashtag #MeToo, which became synonymous with their movement.
While a number of public figures have been accused or even charged for behavior publicized by #MeToo, Cosby is the first celebrity to be actually sentenced to prison so far.
Prior to the allegations, Cosby had a reputation for championing family values. He was best known for family sitcoms such as The Cosby Show (1984-1992) and Cosby (1996-2000).
Reader Comments
Was there new evidence available? i am no lawyer, but from what I understand there has to be new evidence to reopen a case.
Oh wait, here is the new evidence.
"Cosby's first trial ended in a hung jury , but the state pressed charges again after a number of celebrities spoke out against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein at the end of 2017 . Accusing Weinstein of rape, sexual abuse and harassment, the claimants used a social media hashtag #MeToo, which became synonymous with their movement. "
*Bold added*
Benadryl does NOT make one incapacitated, merely tired.
More like the man looking woman seduced cosby and then told extorted him by saying she would accuse him of rape because she had his semen in some underwear or some such threat.
This is how she managed to get years of payments from him. They most likely had a disagreement over moneys a decade later and she "never having the hard evidence she claimed" turned him in for rape as best she could, which is ridiculous at best. She is not even attractive enough for anyone I know to even have a boner over.
I think Andrea Constand should be imprisoned for extortion and blackmail.
(In this case) Cosby is just a schmuck that had an affair and didn't want to admit to. Constand admitted to receiving money from cosby for years, and only made the complaint after payments fell through (this was brought up in the first trial.)
She is obviously friends with Dickinson, and could have been charged to set up cosby by Dickinson.
Janice Dickinson in the courtroom blurting out about having the last laugh, I feel, goes a long way to show that this is a game to those two women, and that she has more skin in the game so to speak than the supposed victim in the case.
if that is the way you were looking at yourself, young, healthy, beautiful and spirited, you probably would not blackmail your rapist for money until they refuse to pay. this person NEVER had a beautiful healthy young spirit.
More like cold, calculated, and conniving.