Accuser hails guilty verdict, saying ‘truth prevails’
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — The woman Bill Cosby was convicted of sexually assaulting tweeted “Truth prevails” Friday, the morning after a jury came back with a verdict that could send the 80-year-old comedian to prison for the rest of his life.
After decades of whispers, lawsuits, investigations and close calls, Cosby was found guilty Thursday of drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in January 2004.
The verdict also led Temple University on Friday to revoke Cosby’s honorary degree from the school. Cosby long served as a leading public face and a key fundraiser for the school, which was among few that waited to pull honors from Cosby until after the verdict.
Cosby frequently turned out to support the school’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, an interest that connected him with Constand, who managed the women’s team.
“A very profound and heartfelt thank you to the Commonwealth of PA, Montgomery County, for their service and sacrifices. Congratulations,” Constand said on Twitter. “Truth prevails.”
It was the only criminal case to arise from a barrage of allegations from more than 60 women who said Cosby drugged and molested them over five decades but whose stories were often disbelieved or ignored years before #MeToo movement put a spotlight on sexual misconduct by powerful men.
Judge Steven O’Neill decided Cosby can remain free on $1 million bail while he awaits sentencing but restricted him to Montgomery County and the mansion where the encounter with Constand occurred.
Cosby was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault, each carrying a standard sentence of five to 10 years in prison. The counts are likely to be merged for sentencing purposes, but given Cosby’s age even a modest term could mean he will die behind bars.
Cosby accuser Janice BakerKinney, who alleges he drugged and raped her in 1982, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday that it is essential Cosby spend time in jail.
Sentencing will likely be held within three months. Before that, Cosby must face assessment to determine if he is a sexually violent predator.
Cosby’s publicists likened him to Emmett Till, the black teenager who was kidnapped and murdered after witnesses said he whistled at a white woman in a Mississippi grocery store in 1955. Constand is white.
“He maintains his innocence, and he is going to walk around as a man who’s innocent because he didn’t do anything wrong,” spokesman Andrew Wyatt told “GMA.”