American comedian and actor Bill Cosby has been sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison for “sexually violent predator” after assaulting a woman at his Philadelphia mansion.
okay.ng gathered that the actor was convicted five months ago of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a former university basketball administrator, The Judge Steven O’Neill handed down the sentence in a court in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
Cosby could spend at least three years in prison, but up to 10. While the defence asked their client to remain under house arrest pending an appeal, the judge ordered him to be remanded into custody.
O’Neill referenced the words “no, no, no” that she heard in her head as the assault took place in January 2004, and she was powerless to fight him off after being sedated.
“You didn’t hear those words,” said O’Neill. “I heard those words. The jury heard those words.”
Prosecutors had demanded five to 10 years in prison, after the three counts of aggravated indecent assault were merged into one, served in a state prison, together with a $25,000 fine and the full cost of the prosecution.
Defence lawyers had argued that Cosby should be confined to house arrest, as he has been since his conviction, arguing that he is too old and too frail — the actor says he is legally blind — to endure a correctional facility.
“You were convicted of a very serious crime,” O’Neill told Cosby. “No one is above the law,” he added. “No one should be treated differently.”
The judge said he recognized the defendant’s age and blindness, but said they could not be the determining factors. Cosby has been confined to his home on a $1 million bail for nearly three years.
“The defendant is in need of correctional treatment,” O’Neill said.
