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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/arts/television/bill-cosby-sentencing.html
Bill Cosby Sentenced to 3 to 10 Years in Prison
• Bill Cosby was given a three-to-10 year prison sentence on Tuesday for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman, Andrea Constand, at his home near here 14 years ago.
• Ten women who had accused Mr. Cosby of sexual abuse, including Ms. Constand, were in the courthouse to witness the sentencing.
• Prosecutors had asked that he be sentenced to the maximum: 10 years in prison.
• Before sentencing, Judge Steven T. O’Neill upheld a state board’s finding that Mr. Cosby is a sexually violent predator.
• The court released Ms. Constand’s full victim impact statement, in which she wrote: “Bill Cosby took my beautiful, healthy young spirit and crushed it.”
• Mr. Cosby declined an opportunity to address the court before his sentence was handed down.
A precipitous fall for ‘America’s Dad’
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home near here 14 years ago, completing the precipitous downfall to disgrace of a man from the heights of stardom and putting an exclamation mark on the first major conviction of the #MeToo era.
Mr. Cosby, 81, had been convicted in April of assaulting Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee at the time of the assault, who had looked upon him as a mentor but ended up being one of the dozens of women who have accused him of acts of predatory sexual abuse.
Nine of those women and Ms. Constand were in the Montgomery County Courthouse to witness the sentencing by Judge Steven T. O’Neill. Ms. Cosby’s wife, Camille, was not.
“It is time for justice, Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you,” Judge O’Neill said. “The day has come. The time has come.”
It was still unclear whether Mr. Cosby will go straight to prison or stay out on bail pending the expected appeal of his conviction. Prosecutors had asked for a maximum term of five to 10 years.
Mr. Cosby’s journey to prison was a long one. After his arrest in December 2015, his first trial in 2017 ended with a hung jury after six days of deliberations.
But at the retrial here in April, in the same courthouse and before the same judge, a jury convicted Mr. Cosby on only the second day of deliberations on three counts of aggravated indecent assault. One key difference in the trials: During the retrial, Judge O’Neill allowed five additional accusers to give their accounts of what they said was sexual abuse by Mr. Cosby. During the first trial, he had allowed only one additional accuser to join Ms. Constand in giving an account.
Mr. Cosby’s trial and conviction has played out at a time when the country is coming to terms with a culture of predatory sexual abuse by powerful men.
A large number of the women who accused Mr. Cosby of abusing them had expected a long prison sentence, one that offered a measure of comfort since their own claims were barred by the statute of limitations when they came forward in the past few years.
The defense said Mr. Cosby is no predator, but the judge disagreed
Judge O’Neill ruled earlier in the day that Mr. Cosby qualified as a “sexually violent predator” under Pennsylvania law.
His decision came after testimony by a psychologist for the defense, who said Mr. Cosby did not deserve that classification. The expert, Timothy Foley, said Mr. Cosby was no longer a threat to anyone and he contradicted a psychologist representing Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offenders Assessment Board who testified Monday, the first day of Mr. Cosby’s sentencing hearing. That psychologist had said Mr. Cosby had demonstrated a lifetime interest in sex with nonconsenting women, which indicated a mental abnormality.
The determination of whether a defendant is a sexually violent predator can be a factor in sentencing and in the conditions imposed both in prison and afterward.
“I found him to be extraordinarily low risk,” Dr. Foley said.
He came to his opinion, he said, after he met with Mr. Cosby for three hours on July 18 and also after reviewing some records. He said he had read none of the trial records or depositions in the case.
M. Stewart Ryan, a prosecutor, asked whether he was aware that Mr. Cosby had admitted to getting seven prescriptions of quaaludes to give to women for sex. Dr. Foley said he wasn’t.
Dr. Foley also said he didn’t know that five other women had testified at trial that they had been assaulted by Mr. Cosby.
Mr. Cosby’s lawyer, Joseph P. Green, argued Monday that Mr. Cosby’s age, 81, and the fact he is legally blind, meant he was no risk, especially since there have been no new allegations of sexual abuse leveled against him since 2004.
“How’s he going to meet these people?” Mr. Green said. “There is no reasonable prospect that an 81-year-old blind man is likely to reoffend.”
But the psychologist for the state panel, Kristen F. Dudley, said she did not believe the disorder had dissipated with age. “It is possible that he has already met someone who could be a future victim,” she said.
The final decision by Judge O’Neill upheld the board’s finding. He said the state had met “a clear and convincing standard.”
No final words from Mr. Cosby
Mr. Cosby was convicted in April of drugging and assaulting Ms. Constand, a former Temple University employee to whom he had been a mentor.
Ms. Constand spoke in court on Monday, along with her mother, father and sister. Ms. Constand told the judge: “The jury heard me, Mr. Cosby heard me and now all I am asking for is justice as the court sees fit.”
Andrea Constand, the victim of sexual assault by Mr. Cosby, said Monday she was asking for "justice as the court sees fit."
Photo by: Pool
But Mr. Cosby told the judge Tuesday through his lawyer that he did not intend to speak before sentencing.
Mr. Cosby has denied all the accusations against him and most experts had said they did not anticipate he would express remorse because his team has already announced plans to appeal his conviction.
He did answer a few procedural questions, and asked a question as prosecutors led him through a list of his duties now that he will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. “If I went from a city to another city do I have to, even if it’s just overnight, I have to get in touch with the state police?” Mr. Cosby said. Mr. Ryan, the prosecutor, said he should consult his lawyer.
Nine women who have accused Mr. Cosby of similar acts of sexual abuse were in the courtroom Tuesday to watch the sentencing, including three who testified at the trial in April.
But Mrs. Cosby was not there.
Members of the media await the sentencing of Mr. Cosby outside the courtroom on Tuesday.
Photo by: Pool Mark Makela
Mr. Cosby had originally faced a maximum 30-year prison term: 10 years for each of three counts of aggravated indecent assault he was convicted of.
But Judge O’Neill chose on Monday to merge the counts into one, as is allowed when they stem from the same event. In this case, they originated with an encounter in January 2004 when, Ms. Constand said, Mr. Cosby sexually assaulted her after giving her pills that made her drift in and out of consciousness.
Judge O’Neill had to consider state guidelines that recommend, but do not mandate, appropriate sentence ranges. Those guidelines, which take into account any previous criminal record (Mr. Cosby has none), the seriousness of the offense, and mitigating and aggravating factors, suggest a range of about 10 months to four years, but Judge O’Neill had great leeway, and prosecutors on Monday asked him to sentence Mr. Cosby to a maximum five-to-10-year term.
Kevin R. Steele, the Montgomery County District Attorney, said Monday that the judge should use the sentencing to send a wider message.
“The bottom line, your honor, is nobody’s above the law,” said Mr. Steele. “Others in a similar situation need to understand that.”
Mr. Cosby’s lawyer, Mr. Green, argued Tuesday for house arrest, suggesting that prison would be too harsh a sentence for a “blind octogenarian first offender.”
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