Cosby guilty of molestation

Norristown: Bill Cosby was convicted of drugging and molesting a woman in the first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era, completing the spectacular downfall of a comedian who broke racial barriers in Hollywood on his way to stardom as America’s Dad.

Norristown, April 26: US television icon Bill Cosby was convicted of sexual assault on Thursday in the first celebrity courtroom battle of the #MeToo era — a combative retrial that capped his fall from grace and offered vindication to scores of women who accused him of abuses.

The frail, 80-year-old Cosby — once beloved as “America’s Dad” — risks spending the rest of his life behind bars when he is sentenced for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand at his Philadelphia mansion in January 2004. Cosby sat emotionless in the packed courtroom in Norristown, just outside Philadelphia, as the verdict was read out to stifled sobs in the gallery. Cosby’s attorney immediately vowed to appeal.

It was a devastating downfall for the once towering figure in late 20th century American popular culture, the first black actor to grace primetime US television, who hit the big time after growing up as the son of a maid.

Now, he is a convicted sex offender staring prison in the face.

Cosby’s first trial ended last June with a hung jury, hopelessly deadlocked after 52 hours of deliberations. But on Thursday, a new sequestered panel, which deliberated for more than 14 hours over two days, found him guilty on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault.

Constand, a 45-year-old Canadian former basketball player turned massage therapist, sat with supporters in court to hear the verdict.