Bill Cosby is told on Tuesday what punishment he will be charged for three charges he has been found guilty of: penetration after drugging, penetration without permission and penetration during unconsciousness.
The comedian has been accused by dozens of women of sexual harassment, drugging, and sexual abuse. The prosecutors demand a prison sentence of five to ten years.
The two-day trial was suspended on Monday. Judge Steven O’Neill will determine the penalty on Tuesday. Cosby was found guilty of three charges in April 2018 filed by Andrea Constand. In the United States, it is customary for the sentence to be pronounced later.
Constand said on Monday that she hopes for “justice that the court considers appropriate”. Constand was in the lawsuit for a testimony of two minutes but would have submitted a longer victim statement. This was not read in court. According to her family members, the abuse has “taken a big toll” on an emotional level.
Cosby’s lawyer Joseph Green thinks that imprisonment can be detrimental to the health of the 81-year-old actor, because of his age and the problems with his vision. A prison sentence would be “excessively harsh”, according to Green. The lawyer has asked for an alternative punishment.
Expert calls it ‘likely that Cosby is repeating’
Psychologist Kristen F. Dudley, who testified on Monday in the abuse case, called it “likely that Cosby will be repeating”. The actor should be labeled as a “violent sexual predator”.
Cosby would have a mental disorder. “He does not control his behavior, and as a result h,e is encouraged to continue to act.” It is likely that Cosby will recur, “said Dudley.
The lawyers of the 81-year-old actor, who became known to the worldwide public through his program The Cosby Show, have said earlier that they intend to challenge the verdict.
Cosby punishment may be under house arrest
Cosby was found guilty of penetration after drugging, penetration without consent and penetration during unconsciousness in April. He could get a 30-year jail sentence for that, but analysts previously expressed their suspicion that it is probably a prison sentence of two to five years. Possibly the comedian can serve this sentence under house arrest.
Constand filed a declaration of sexual harassment in Canada in 2005. The basketball star declared to have been drugged by Cosby and then touched by him. In 2015, Constand decided to start a criminal prosecution for the first time. The case happened once in June 2017, but was then annulled because the jury could not reach an opinion.
Several witnesses heard
Five women, including former top model Janice Dickinson, testified in the case, which in April 2018 once again went to court. They all let themselves be abused and drugged by the comedian.
Cosby has always denied that he has abused women. He has been married to Camille Cosby for almost 55 years and she believes in his innocence. They have five children together.
His daughter Ensa died early this year from the effects of chronic kidney disease. She was 44. In 1997, he also lost his son Ennis, who was killed in a robbery.