Cosby guilty on all 3 counts of aggravated indecent assault

‘America’s Dad’ faces up to 10 years on each count

NORRISTOWN, Pa. – Comedian and TV icon Bill Cosby was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault at his sexual-assault retrial Thursday.

The conviction was not the outcome Cosby and his defense team wanted, but it was an answer to the question that has haunted America since October 2014: Is “America’s Dad” really a serial sexual predator who drugged and molested Andrea Constand at his nearby home in January 2004?

The verdict came on the second day of deliberations, and after it was delivered, Judge Steven O’Neill thanked jurors for their service and then warned them about interactions with the media.

After the jury left the room, O’Neill said the $1 million bail Cosby posted was sufficient for him to remain free until sentencing. That set off a heated argument with Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, who wanted Cosby’s bail revoked as a flight risk. The judge questioned this, citing Cosby’s age, health and the fact that he showed up for every court proceeding over two years. “I am not going to simply lock him up because of this,” O’Neill said. A sentencing date was not set.

Last June, another jury at Cosby’s first trial deadlocked after days of deliberations, forcing O’Neill to declare a mistrial.

For the retrial, the jury of seven men and five women voted unanimously that Cosby was guilty. Cosby, charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault, could get 10 years in prison on each count.

At 80 and in failing health, any prison term is likely a life sentence.

DOMINICK REUTER/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Andrea Constand, left, the main accuser in the Bill Cosby sexual-assault trial, reacts after Cosby was convicted Thursday at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa.