NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby, who for years dodged accusations that he had preyed on women while brightening America’s living rooms as a beloved father figure, left a courtroom in handcuffs on Tuesday after he was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in his home.

The sentence capped Mr. Cosby’s stunning fall from a towering figure in popular culture to an 81-year-old convicted sex offender.

“It is time for justice,” Judge Steven T. O’Neill said as he announced the term. “Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The day has come. The time has come.” Acknowledging the impact that the case has had on Mr. Cosby’s legacy, Judge O’Neill added: “Fallen angels suffer most.”

Mr. Cosby, who has said he will appeal the conviction, was denied bail and ordered to prison immediately.</s>Cosby Sentenced To 3 To 10 Years In Prison

Actor and comedian Bill Cosby is sentenced to at least three years in state prison after his conviction earlier this year for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman.</s>A judge in suburban Philadelphia has sentenced “America’s Dad” Bill Cosby to three years in prison and has designated him a Sexually Violent Predator for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand.

Cosby was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs to begin serving his time behind bars.

The SVP designation forces Cosby to check-in with the police for the rest of his life and for his name to appear on the sex offenders’ registry and to undergo monthly counseling once he is

 released from custody.

Since Cosby’s sentence includes incarceration, his lawyers will ask if he can remain on bail pending appeal.

 An appeal can only be filed in Pennsylvania after the sentence is handed down, and his lawyers fear he may be immediately taken away in handcuffs.

 DA Kevin Steele had asked the court to sentence Cosby to five-to-ten years in state prison because he believes Cosby has not shown remorse.

Cosby’s attorneys are arguing that prison time would impose “excessive hardship” on the 81-year-old Cosby who is legally blind.

Cosby was asked if he wanted to say anything on his behalf yesterday in court and he declined.

Several of Cosby’s accusers were at the courthouse this morning awaiting to hear his sentence.

Among them is Andrea Constand, the woman who Cosby was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting in 2004.

Several jurors from the trial were also in the court room and the overflow room watching the sentence.

Yesterday Constand read her victim impact statement in the Philadelphia-area court, saying, “The jury heard me, Mr. Cosby heard me and now all I am asking for is justice as the court sees fit.”

Also yesterday, an expert for the prosecution testified Cosby has a “personality disorder” and agrees Cosby is a Sexually Violent Predator.

The post Bill Cosby Sentenced To 3 Years in Prison, Designated a “Violent Sexual Predator” appeared first on 850 WFTL.</s>NORRISTOWN: Disgraced US television icon Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison by a judge on Tuesday (Sep 25) and branded a "sexually violent predator" for assaulting a woman at his Philadelphia mansion 14 years ago.



The 81-year-old, once beloved as "America's Dad," is the first celebrity convicted and sentenced for a sex crime since the downfall of Harvey Weinstein ushered in the #MeToo movement and America's reckoning with sexual harassment.

Convicted five months ago of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a former university basketball administrator, he showed no reaction when Judge Steven O'Neill handed down the sentence in a court in Norristown, Pennsylvania.</s>Disgraced US television icon Bill Cosby, 81, was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison by a judge on Tuesday and branded a “sexually violent predator” for assaulting a woman at his Philadelphia mansion 14 years ago.

Convicted five months ago of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a former university basketball administrator, Cosby showed no reaction when Judge Steven O’Neill handed down the sentence in a court in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

“It is time for justice. Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The time has come,” Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill said. He quoted from victim Andrea Constand’s own statement to the court, in which she said Cosby took her “beautiful, young spirit and crushed it.”

Cosby, once beloved as “America’s Dad”, is the first celebrity convicted and sentenced for a sex crime since the downfall of Harvey Weinstein ushered in the #MeToo movement and America’s reckoning with sexual harassment. He declined the opportunity to address the court before the sentence came down.

The punishment came at the end of a two-day hearing at which the judge declared Cosby a “sexually violent predator” – a modern-day scarlet letter that subjects him to monthly counselling for the rest of his life and requires that neighbours and schools be notified of his whereabouts.

Cosby’s lawyers asked for house arrest, saying Cosby – who is legally blind – is too old and vulnerable to do time in prison. Prosecutors asked for five to 10 years behind bars, saying he could still pose a threat to women.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele rejected the notion that Cosby’s age and infirmity entitle him to mercy. “He was good at hiding this for a long time. Good at suppressing this for a long time. So it’s taken a long time to get there,” Steele said.

The sentencing came as another extraordinary #MeToo drama unfolded on Capitol Hill, where Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh stands accused of sexual misconduct more than three decades ago.

The Cosby case “really raised awareness of the pervasiveness of … sexual misconduct against subordinates and against women of relatively less power,” said Daniel Filler, dean of Drexel University’s law school. “For jurors, I think it’s inherently changed the credibility of the accusers.”

In the years since Constand first went to authorities in 2005, more than 60 women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct, though none of those claims have led to criminal charges.

The judge ruled on Cosby’s “sexually violent predator” status after a psychologist for the state testified that the entertainer appears to have a mental disorder that gives him an uncontrollable urge to have sex with women without their consent.

When the ruling came down, a woman in the courtroom shot her fist into the air and whispered, “Yessss!”

In a statement submitted to the court and released Tuesday, Constand, now 45, that she has had to cope with years of anxiety and self-doubt. She said she now lives alone with her two dogs and has trouble trusting people.

“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 her five-page statement.

“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.”

She also wrote of Cosby: “We may never know the full extent of his double life as a sexual predator, but his decades-long reign of terror as a serial rapist is over.”</s>Bill Cosby has been sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison for drugging and molesting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home.

Judge Steven O’Neill sentenced Cosby on Tuesday, five months after his conviction in the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era.

Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of five to 10 years in prison. The defense asked for house arrest.

The 81-year-old comedian did not make a statement in court. Cosby sat back in his chair, his head on the headrest, as the sentence was read.

The entertainer once known as “America’s Dad” was convicted in April of sexually assaulting Temple University athletics administrator Andrea Constand in 2004.

Constand is one of about 60 women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct.</s>NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- A judge has sentenced Bill Cosby to three to 10 years in state prison, NBC reports.

Judge Steven O'Neill announced the sentence in court Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutors asked for five to 10 years in prison. The defense wanted house arrest, but District Attorney Kevin Steele says the sentencing rules don't allow it.

A jury convicted Cosby of drugging and molesting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home. Cosby was convicted after the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era.

The 81-year-old TV star declined to make a statement at his two-day sentencing hearing. The woman he attacked, Andrea Constand, says she's had to cope with years of pain, anxiety and self-doubt.

The judge ruled that Bill Cosby is a "sexually violent predator."

The classification means that Cosby must undergo lifetime counseling and report quarterly to authorities. His name will appear on a sex-offender registry sent to neighbors, schools and victims.

Judge Steven O'Neill made the decision Tuesday as he prepares to sentence the 81-year-old comedian for drugging and molesting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.

Cosby's lawyers had fought the "sexually violent predator" designation, arguing that Pennsylvania's sex-offender law remains unconstitutional despite several revisions.</s>was sentenced Tuesday by a court in Norristown, Pennsylvania, to a minimum of three years in state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill handed down the sentence of 3-10 years a few hours after accepting the recommendation of a state panel to classify the 81-year-old comedian as a "sexually violent predator", Efe reported.

Cosby was led handcuffed from the courtroom by police after the judge refused to release him on bail during pending appeals.

The sexual predator designation implies that Cosby will be included in sex-offender registries that are sent to schools and that must submit to regular therapy sessions for the rest of his life.

The trial charged Cosby with sexual aggression against Andrea Constand in 2004.

The comedian met Constand in 2001 when she was working as an administrator with the Temple University women's basketball team and Cosby, the school's most famous alumnus, sat on the Philadelphia institution's board of trustees.

Constand, now 45, said that during an early 2004 visit to Cosby's mansion in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, he drugged her and penetrated her with his fingers while she was immobilized by the effect of the drug.

Though the maximum sentence he could have received was 30 years behind bars, the judge himself asked for a prison sentence of 5-10 years.

More than 60 women have accused of sexually abusing them between 1960-2000, but those alleged offences could not be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations.

According to the plea entered by the prosecution, Cosby remains a risk to women, an argument used to request that he be deprived of his freedom and which was accepted by the judge.

For its part, the defence had portrayed Cosby as a disabled old man who posed no threat to society, and introduced Tuesday the testimony of a psychologist who supported his attorney's plea that he be released.</s>Actor and comedian Bill Cosby was sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison on Tuesday for sexually assaulting a woman more than a decade ago.

Cosby was convicted in April of three counts of indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting his one-time friend Andrea Constand, a former Temple University administrator, at his Philadelphia home in 2004.

Pennsylvania Judge Steven O'Neill also deemed Cosby a "sexually violent predator", meaning that he must undergo monthly counselling for the rest of his life and report quarterly to authorities. Cosby's name will appear on a sex-offender registry sent to neighbours, schools and victims. The actor was also fined $25,000.

His lawyers have said they will appeal the conviction, which observers say could push the case up to the state's highest court and take several years.

Cosby, known as "America's Dad" for his role on the Cosby Show, was the first celebrity to be convicted after the #MeToo movement was popularised following a number of allegations against well-known individuals in October 2017.

Prosecutors had asked for five to 10 years in prison. The defence requested house arrest, saying Cosby is too old and helpless to do time behind bars. He is legally blind.

Cosby's lawyers had also fought the "sexually violent predator" designation, arguing that Pennsylvania's sex-offender law remains unconstitutional and that he is no threat to the public at his age.

But O'Neill said prosecutors had met their burden of proof by "clear and convincing" evidence.

When the sex predator ruling came down, a woman in courtroom shot her fist into the air and whispered, "Yessss!"

Constand spoke briefly on the first day of the hearing on Monday, saying "all I am asking for is justice as the court sees fit."

In a statement submitted to the court and released on Tuesday, the 45-year-old said she has had to cope with years of anxiety and self-doubt that have left her "stuck in a holding pattern".

Constand said her training as a professional basketball player had led her to think she could handle anything, but "life as I knew it" ended on the night that Cosby knocked her out with pills and violated her.

Constand said she now has trouble trusting people.

"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 her five-page statement.

"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."

In the years since Constand first went to authorities in 2005, more than 60 women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct, though none of those claims have led to criminal charges. Cosby's first trial in 2017 ended in a mistrial when jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict.

The judge, on Tuesday, ruled on Cosby's sex-offender status after a defence psychologist, Timothy Foley, testified that the chances of the comedian committing another sex offence are "extraordinarily low" because he is old, legally blind and needs help getting around.

On Monday, a psychologist for the state testified that Cosby appears to have a mental disorder that gives him an uncontrollable urge to assault women.

Cosby was smiling and joking with his spokesman and sheriff's deputies as he settled into the courtroom Tuesday. On the first day of the sentencing, the comic laughed at times as the psychologist on the stand for the state portrayed him as a sexual predator with signs of a mental disorder. Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom.

Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said the former TV star planned to remain silent when given the opportunity to address the court. Cosby did not testify at either of his two trials.

The proceedings took place as women and others across the US protested against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct by two women. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.

Tuesday's sentencing was a reckoning accusers and prosecutors said was decades in the making for the once-beloved entertainer known for his role as wise and understanding Dr Cliff Huxtable on the top-ranked, 1980s-era Cosby Show.

Cosby became the first black actor to star in a prime-time TV show, I Spy, in 1965. He remained a Hollywood A-lister for much of the next half-century.</s>Bill Cosby Sentenced To At Least 3 Years In State Prison

Editor's note: This story contains a graphic description of sexual assault.

A judge has sentenced Bill Cosby to three to 10 years in Pennsylvania state prison, five months after a jury found the entertainer guilty of aggravated indecent assault. Cosby will serve at least three years behind bars, after which he would become eligible for supervised release. But there is no guarantee he would be released at that point.

Cosby's prison sentence completes the TV dad's stunning fall from groundbreaking cultural icon to convicted sex offender. Cosby, 81, is the first celebrity to be sent to prison in the #MeToo era.

"Bill Cosby took my beautiful, healthy, young spirit and crushed it. He robbed me of my health and vitality, my open nature, and my trust in myself and others," accuser Andrea Constand wrote in a five-page victim impact statement submitted to the court.

Now, "instead of looking back, I am looking forward to looking forward," she said. "I want to get to the place where the person I was meant to be gets a second chance."

In the courtroom, Constand sat flanked by her family and some of the about 60 women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct stretching back decades.

"The victims cannot be unraped," Gianna Constand, Andrea Constand's mother, told the court on Monday during the first day of the sentencing hearing. "All we can do is hold the perpetrators accountable."

Cosby chose not to make a statement. He sat alone at the defense table, as his attorneys stressed his age and infirmity throughout the two-day hearing, pleading for a sentence of house arrest.

Cosby's wife, Camille, who stridently criticized the judge in the days leading up to the hearing, was not present. Cosby declined to address the court on his own behalf.

When his punishment was read, Cosby appeared not to react. His attorney, Joseph Green, asked that his client be freed on bail while he appeals the case. Judge Steven O'Neill initially denied that request, before recessing briefly to consider the question.

Prosecutors requested the maximum sentence under the law of five to ten years in state prison, and a $25,000 fine. They also asked the court to require Cosby to cover the cost of his two trials, which added up to about $420,000.

When this decision was read, one of his accusers, model Janice Dickinson, seated in the third row, made a celebratory gesture in the air and hugged the person next to her.

Defense attorney Joseph Green argued Cosby is unlikely to reoffend based on his age.

"Eighty-one-year-old blind men who are not self-sufficient are not dangerous, except maybe to themselves," he said.

After becoming the first African-American actor to star in a lead role in the buddy-cop show I Spy in 1965, Cosby's acting career made him a household name. Ever since, he has been a cultural fixture, starring in films and television shows and putting out comedy albums for decades. His body of work developed his legacy as "America's Dad," in particular his depiction of obstetrician Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show, which ran for eight seasons until 1992.

Those contributions to American popular culture have now been eclipsed by his conviction as well as allegations of sexual misconduct leveled by dozens of accusers, largely women with aspiring entertainment careers, stretching back to the mid-1960s.

"In many respects, I think this was the precursor to the furor that ignited with the Harvey Weinstein allegations surfacing," said Deborah Tuerkheimer, law professor at Northwestern University.

In 2005, Constand, who was 32 years old at the time, reported to police in her native Ontario that Cosby had given her three blue pills and fondled her while she was incapacitated. Canadian police referred the case to authorities in Pennsylvania's Montgomery County. Then-District Attorney Bruce Castor declined to press charges. Constand then pursued a civil lawsuit against the entertainer that was settled for about $3.4 million.

In 2015 and at the request of The Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno unsealed deposition testimony Cosby gave during that civil case in which he described obtaining quaaludes to give women before sex. That revelation set off scores of other women to step forward and say Cosby drugged and molested or sexually assaulted them.

The document also renewed interest in the district attorney's office to re-examine Constand's criminal case.

Days before the statute of limitations was set to expire in December 2015, prosecutors summoned reporters to Montgomery County to make a startling announcement: Cosby was being charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault over a more-than-a-decade-old incident.

In the 2 1/2 years that followed, Cosby's case went to trial twice in Norristown, Pa., not far from his estate where Constand says Cosby assaulted her.

The first jury deadlocked in 2017. A jury in the second trial convicted Cosby on all counts April 26, 2018.

Both times, Constand testified that during a visit to his house in 2004, Cosby gave her pills she believed were herbal supplements to help with stress she was having as she was considering a career change. When she took the pills, she was knocked unconscious. She told jurors that while on a couch in his home and in a haze, she felt him penetrating her with his fingers and using her hand to masturbate, as she was unable to fight back. "I was frozen," she told the jury.

After six days of deliberation at the 2017 trial, jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial. Prosecutors did not give up, though, deciding to put Cosby on trial a second time. In April 2018, Cosby faced a different jury and, in many ways, a whole new world.

For one, the #MeToo movement had been unleashed, toppling bad-behaving men whose abuse had previously been kept secret. And the judge allowed five women in addition to Constand to take the stand and confront the famous comedian to help illustrate Cosby's pattern of predatory behavior. That was four more women than the judge permitted during the first trial. Legal experts say those women helped bolster the credibility of Constand.

When the women took the witness stand, a pattern emerged. The women told the court that Cosby sought them out and gained their trust before arranging for private meetings, often under the guise of career advice or script coaching, at which Cosby would drug them and then sexually prey on them.

Among the five women who took the stand in the second trial was model Janice Dickinson, who, along with the other accuser witnesses, Cosby's lawyers attempted to paint as a fame-seeking liar who had fabricated stories to smear a famous person.

"You said words to the effect that, 'For 30 years, I didn't know I had been raped,' " said Cosby attorney Thomas Mesereau during cross-examination. "So, for 30 years, you didn't think anyone had sexually assaulted you?"

"It still takes me everything within my being to say the words 'I was raped,' because I still carry the guilt," responded Baker-Kinney.

Throughout the proceedings, Cosby's legal team maintained the comedian's innocence, arguing that the encounter with Constand was consensual. In the first trial, Cosby's lawyers emphasized an alleged mutual romance between Cosby and Constand. With a retooled legal team in the second trial, Cosby's lawyers had a new approach: attempting to portray Constand as a "con artist" who had long planned to concoct a false allegation against Cosby in order to secure a multi-million-dollar payout.
American actor/comedian Bill Cosby is sentenced to three to ten years in a Pennsylvania prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004.