Bill Cosby's downfall
from "America's Dad" to convicted felon will reach its final
chapter in a Pennsylvania courtroom on Monday, when a judge will
begin deciding whether to sentence the 81-year-old comedian to
prison for sexual assault.
Cosby, who was found guilty in April, is the first celebrity
to be convicted since the start of the #MeToo movement, the
national reckoning with sexual misconduct that has brought down
dozens of powerful men in entertainment, politics and other
fields.
Cosby, who once had a family-friendly reputation as the
1980s television comedy " The Cosby Show," was convicted of
drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former
administrator at his alma mater Temple University, at his
Philadelphia-area home in 2004. More than 50 other women also
have accused him of sexual abuse going back decades.
Cosby arrived at the courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania,
at about 8:30 a.m. EDT, walking with a cane and holding the arm
of his spokesman, Andrew Wyatt. A number of accusers, including
model Janice Dickinson, were on hand for the sentencing hearing,
which is expected to last two days.
Cosby faces up to 10 years on each of three counts of
aggravated indecent assault, although it is unlikely Montgomery
County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven O'Neill would go as
high as 30 years, according to Steven Chanenson, a law professor
at Villlanova University and an expert on sentencing.
State sentencing guidelines, which are not mandatory,
recommend a sentence between two and four years, Chanenson said.
Prosecutors are expected to seek a lengthy sentence, citing
the nature of Cosby's crime as well as his alleged history of
misconduct.
Defense lawyers will likely point to Cosby's age, frailty
and failing vision.
Cosby's first trial in 2017 ended in a mistrial when jurors
could not reach a unanimous verdict. Soon after that proceeding,
a series of women began leveling sexual misconduct allegations
against influential men, launching the #MeToo and #TimesUp
movements that have encouraged victims to speak up about their
experiences.
The judge allowed prosecutors to call five other accusers as
witnesses in Cosby's second trial over the objections of his
defense team, bolstering Constand's account. All of the women
told stories that were markedly similar to Constand's: Cosby
would offer to be their mentor before plying them with alcohol
and drugs and sexually assaulting them.
Prosecutors had asked O'Neill for permission to call an
unspecified number of accusers as witnesses during the
sentencing hearing but the judge denied that request last week.