Bill Cosby has been sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison for
drugging and s*xually assaulting a woman over a decade ago, becoming the
first celebrity of the #MeToo era to be jailed for his crimes.
“It
is time for justice,” said Judge Steven O’Neill, who handed down the
sentence on Tuesday at the Montgomery county courthouse in Norristown,
Pennsylvania.
Cosby was found guilty earlier this year of
drugging and molesting Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia estate
in 2004. The sentence caps a precipitous downfall for an actor once known as
“America’s Dad,” who starred in the popular Cosby Show in the 1980s and
90s.
The 81-year-old comedian was taken into
custody immediately and led away in handcuffs after the judge refused to let
him out on bail while he appeals, saying he “could quite possibly be a
danger to the community”. Cosby will serve the sentence in state prison.
“Mr.
Cosby, your guilt has been determined by a jury. You were convicted of a
very serious crime,” O’Neill said, adding that Cosby’s notoriety did not
affect his ruling.
“Of course, the higher the ascent the sharper
the fall. I recognise that impact upon Mr Cosby, and I am sorry for
that.”
Cosby declined the opportunity to speak before being sentenced.
He showed little visible reaction as the sentence was handed down, but was
later reported to be sat smiling, laughing and chatting with his defence
team. His wife of 54 years, Camille, was not in court.
Constand
smiled broadly as she heard the sentence and was hugged by others in the
courtroom. The judge said Constand’s “powerful” victim statement, released
by prosecutors on Tuesday, had carried great weight in his decision that
nothing short of a significant stint in state prison would be appropriate.
“As she said, Mr. Cosby, you took her beautiful, healthy young spirit and
crushed her,” he said.
In the pouring rain outside the courthouse in Norristown,
Pennsylvania, Gloria Allred, attorney for several of Cosby’s accusers said:
“This has been a long journey to justice for all of the accusers … we’re
glad that judgment day has finally come. Mr Cosby has shown no remorse.”
“I
have waited 32 years for this day, hoping my nightmares would go away. I
prayed every day that Mr. Cosby would go to prison,” said Chelan Lasha, who
testified at the trial.
The sentencing came at the end of a two-day hearing at
which the judge declared Cosby a “s*xually violent predator”. The
designation means he must undergo monthly counselling for the rest of his
life and report to the authorities four times a year. His name will appear
on a s*x offender register sent to neighbours, schools and victims.
In
a victim impact statement released earlier in the day, Constand described
how she had been “at the top of her game” until Cosby’s assault derailed her
life.
“Life as I knew it came to abrupt halt,” she said. “The man I
had come to know as a mentor and friend drugged and s*xually assaulted me.
Instead of being able to run, jump and pretty much do anything I wanted
physically, during the assault I was paralysed and completely helpless.”
After the assault, she said, “the shame was overwhelming” and she retreated.
“I felt completely alone, unable to trust anyone, including myself.”
Her
job with the women’s basketball team at Temple University, Philadelphia,
still required her to interact with Cosby, a trustee at the school. “The
sound of his voice over the phone felt like a knife going through my guts,”
she said.
Constand said her life remained in turmoil throughout a civil
suit and two criminal trials, but she said that she took comfort in knowing
Cosby had been brought down.
Cosby was convicted earlier this
year of three counts of aggravated indecent assault, becoming the first
celebrity convicted on criminal charges since the 2017 advent of the #MeToo
movement against s*xual assault and harassment.
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The
case is the only one to result in criminal charges against Cosby, but more
than 60 women have said he abused or harassed them, with many saying he
drugged them and molested them while they were incapacitated. Five other
women testified at Cosby’s trial that they had been assaulted. A hearing of
the same charges last year ended in a mistrial with a hung jury.
Constand said the toll on her life has been heavy. “I’m a
middle-aged woman who’s been stuck in a holding pattern for most of her
adult life, unable to fully heal or to move forward,” she said.
Prosecutors
had asked for five to 10 years in state prison, citing the seriousness of
Cosby’s crime and his lack of remorse. Cosby’s lawyer asked for his sentence
to be served as a continuation of his house arrest, saying he was not
dangerous and was too old and frail to spend time behind bars.
Constand, who considered Cosby a friend and mentor at the time
of the assault, testified that he gave her three blue pills which caused her
to pass out. She awoke to find him penetrating her with his fingers,
touching her breasts and placing her hand on his genitals.
Cosby
denied wrongdoing, and said his relationship with Constand was consensual
and the pills he offered her were simply the over-the-counter cold
medication Benadryl. Cosby intends to appeal against the verdict.
Cosby’s
spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, was defiant after the sentencing. He said outside
court: “Mr Cosby’s doing great, and Mr Cosby knows that God is watching over
him. He knows that these are lies. They persecuted Jesus and look what
happened. I’m not saying Mr Cosby is Jesus, but we know what this country
has done to black men for centuries.”
