After years of accusation and two trials, Bill Cosby is facing thirty years in prison and $75,000 in fines for three counts of sexual assault. This comes as a victory for Cosby's victims, after initial court proceedings in June were deemed a mistrial.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele told press, "What was revealed through this investigation was a man who had spent decades preying on women that he drugged and sexually assaulted... He used his celebrity, he used his wealth, he used his network of supporters to help him conceal his crimes."
The Cosby Show patriarch, now 80, has been accused by over 50 women of drugging and sexually assaulting them. This trial centered around the testimony of Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee who alleged that Cosby, a Temple trustee, drugged her at his Pennsylvania home in 2004. Cosby’s defense team argued that Constand was a con artist attempting to get a piece of Cosby’s fortune. During the proceedings, five other women also testified that Cosby drugged and assaulted them.
When the verdict was announced, Cosby bent his head in silence. Many of his victims in the room sobbed in joy. He will now be confined to his Pennsylvania home and will need to wear a GPS tracker in case he attempts to flee. Despite a proposal from Kevin Steele that Cosby’s $1 million dollar bail should be revoked because wealth is not a restriction for him, judge Steven O’Neill refused.
Gloria Allred, an attorney representing many of the women who have come forward with allegations against Cosby, remarked: "We are so happy that finally we can say women are believed. And not only on #MeToo but in a court of law where they are under oath, where they testified truthfully, where they are attacked... After all is said and done, women were finally believed."
Megan Loreto
Megan Loreto
Ilana Maiman
Ilana Maiman