Bill Cosby has been sentenced to three to ten years in prison and registered as a sexual predator for life.
CNN reports the 81-year-old was given the sentence on Tuesday (Sept. 25), after a two-day hearing. Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed on Monday (Sept. 24) to combine the three counts of his conviction into one for sentencing purposes. Judge Steven O’Neil noted that Cosby was not given special treatment due to his celebrity status.
“Equal justice under the law,” he said, noting Cosby’s sentence wasn’t changed because of “who he is or who he was.”
In April, Cosby was convicted of three counts of drugging and raping Andrea Constand in 2004. He will also have to register as a sexual predator for life, an action his legal team attempted to halt. His lawyers claimed his old age shows that he no longer poses a threat to anyone and does not need to be labeled as a “sexually violent predator.”
Kristen Dudley, a psychologist and a member of the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, believed otherwise. In her statement to the court, she shared how Cosby fits the criteria of “other specified paraphilic disorder,” meaning his actions can happen again due to his attraction to non-consenting adults.
“The behaviors are beyond their controls, so they are urged to act on it,” she said. Paraphilia is a condition centered on abnormal sexual desires, including extreme or dangerous activities.
BuzzFeed reports Constand spoke once during the sentencing by stating, “all I am asking for is justice as the court sees fit.” In her victim impact statement, she stated Cosby’s effect on her life.
“Bill Cosby took my beautiful, healthy young spirit and crushed it,” Constand wrote. “He robbed me of my health and vitality, my open nature, and my trust in myself and others.”
Cosby’s case was set for a retrial in 2017 after a decision couldn’t be made by the jury. Other testimonies from victims like model Janice Dickinson and former roommate to Constand Marguerite Jackson helped the jury with their decision. Over 60 women have accused Cosby of rape or sexual misconduct but none were taken to the court since most passed the statute of limitations on sexual assault cases.
Camille Cosby was not present at the time of her husband’s sentencing.
READ MORE: Akon Questions Bill Cosby’s Guilty Verdict: “You Don’t Really Know If He Did It”