Bill Cosby sentenced to prison for drugging and sexually assaulting woman

Bill Cosby has been sentenced to prison for between three and ten years

The veteran comedian was found guilty in relation to a 2004 sexual assault case. In a retrial held in April in Pennsylvania, 81-year-old Cosby was convicted of drugging and molesting former basketball player Andrea Constand. The Cosby Show star was charged with assaulting Ms. Constand at his home in Philadelphia in 2004. His lawyers had asked for house arrest, but Judge Steven O'Neill sentenced him to "total confinement," calling him a "sexually violent predator." He will now have to have counseling every month for the rest of his life, and report to authorities every quarter. He will also be on the sex offenders list sent to schools and neighbours. It was the second time Cosby had stood trial for the allegations, after an earlier jury failed to reach a verdict in June 2017. Scores of women have accused the comedian of sexual assault in recent years, in allegations dating back to the mid-1960s, but statute of limitation laws mean that only one charge could be brought to trial. Five of his other accusers testified against him during his trial. A jury of seven men and five women took 14 hours to find him guilty on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault.