Less than two hours after being designated a sexually violent predator, Bill Cosby has been sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison by a Pennsylvania judge after being convicted for the 2004 rape of former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.
Cosby will serve “no less than three years and no more than 10 years,” Judge Steven O’Neill said Tuesday, adding that the actor also must pay a fine and court costs.
The ruling comes nearly three years after the much accused actor once known as “America’s Dad” was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Constand. With Cosby sitting in the Norristown, PA courthouse, the long-expected decision comes six months after a jury found Cosby guilty of all three counts in a retrial.
“No one is above the law,” O’Neil said today from the bench to Cosby, who was seated just in front of him in the courtroom, adding it’s no matter their “wealth, fame, celebrity or even philanthropy” — a clear dig at the latter element Cosby’s lawyers frequently brought up regarding their client’s character.
Proclaiming he felt feel a duty to “the public, the Commonwealth and the defendant,” O’Neill said there would be “no probation, no limited confinement” such as home arrest. “I am compelled to consider the guidelines,” O’Neill told the court of the prison time, which could have been up to four years under legislative rules.
“This is a court of law and I plan to sentence you under the law,” O’Neill said.
Cosby is the first major conviction of the #MeToo and Time’s Up era that has seen the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, ex-CBS boss Les Moonves and others investigated, dethroned and, in the case of Weinstein, charged with crimes in the past year.
