Cosby guilty of sexual assault
Comedian Bill Cosby arrives for his sexual assault trial at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania on April 18. Cosby was convicted yesterday of drugging and molesting a woman in the first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era.
NORRISTOWN (Reuters) — Comedian Bill Cosby was convicted on Thursday of drugging and sexually assaulting a onetime friend in 2004, marking the first such conviction of a celebrity since the #MeToo movement that has brought down rich and powerful men for their treatment of women.
Cosby, 80, best known as the lovable father from the 1980s TV hit “The Cosby Show,” faces up to 10 years in prison for each of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand, 45, following a threeweek trial at the Montgomery County courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
As the verdict was read, Cosby looked down with a sad expression. Lili Bernard, one of his many accusers, began sobbing. Constand sat stone-faced.
Judge Steven O’Neill ruled Cosby could remain out of jail on $1 million bail pending sentencing at a later date, as long as he surrendered his passport and remained at home.
Sentencing was expected within 60 to 90 days, after Cosby submits to a “sexually violent predator assessment.”
Although he could get up to 10 years for each count, state sentencing guidelines suggest a term of less than 10 years.