Updated 8.49pm – Popular TV comedian Bill Cosby was sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison on Tuesday for sexually assaulting a woman, capping the once-beloved actor’s downfall from “America’s Dad” to convicted felon.
Cosby, 81, was found guilty in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for the drugging and sexual assault of his one-time friend Andrea Constand, a former Temple University administrator, at his Philadelphia home in 2004.
He goes to jail immediately
Cosby is the first celebrity to be convicted for sexual abuse since the start of the #MeToo movement, the national reckoning with misconduct that has brought down dozens of powerful men in entertainment, politics and other fields.
His lawyers have already vowed to appeal the conviction.
Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven 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.
More than 50 other women also have accused Cosby of sexual…
