Bill Cosby sentenced to at least three years in prison

Bill Cosby was sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison on Tuesday for his conviction for sexually assaulting a woman in 2004.

Cosby (81) was found guilty in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for the drugging and sexual assault of Andrea Constand, a former Temple University administrator, at his Philadelphia home 14 years ago.

The sentence ensures that Cosby will spend no less than three years behind bars before he becomes eligible for supervised release.

Judge Steven O'Neill at Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas ordered Cosby, who was out on bail, be jailed immediately.

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Mr O’Neill also fined Cosby $25,000 (€21,200) and ordered him to pay the costs of the prosecution, calling Cosby’s crime “very serious”. There was no visible reaction from the disgraced entertainer.

“Equal justice under the law does not allow different treatment because of who he is or who he was,” Mr O’Neill said.

Cosby was the first celebrity to be convicted for sexual abuse since the start of the #MeToo movement, the national reckoning with misconduct that has disrupted the careers of dozens of powerful men.

Before handing down the prison sentence, Mr O'Neill also decided to designate Cosby a "sexually violent predator" under Pennsylvania law.

Under that designation, Cosby will have to undergo monthly counselling and register as a sex offender with police for the rest of his life. Neighbours and schools will be notified of his address and crimes.

Cosby’s lawyers have already said they plan to appeal his conviction, and he has denied any wrongdoing. Asked if he wanted to address the court with a statement before sentencing, Cosby declined through his lawyers.

More than 50 other women also have accused Cosby of sexual abuse going back decades, with most complaints too old to prosecute. The Constand case was the only allegation that led to criminal charges.

On the first day of the sentencing hearing on Monday, Ms Constand said in a written statement submitted to the court that the attack had turned her into a woman who was "stuck in a holding pattern for most of her adult life, unable to heal fully or to move forward".

“Bill Cosby took my beautiful, healthy young spirit and crushed it,” she wrote.

Prosecutors had asked for the maximum prison sentence of between five and 10 years, citing the nature of Cosby’s crime as well as his alleged history of misconduct.

Citing Cosby’s frailty and blindness, Cosby’s lawyers had asked for house arrest rather than prison time.

Cosby’s first trial in 2017 ended in a mistrial when jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict. Soon after that, a series of women began levelling sexual misconduct allegations against influential men, launching the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements that have encouraged victims to speak up about their experiences. – Reuters