Bill Cosby sent to state prison for sexual assault

[pnwmom]

Source: BBC

Comedian Bill Cosby has been sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison for sexual assault.

Cosby, 81, has also been categorised as a sexually violent predator, meaning he must undergo counselling for life and be listed on the sex offender registry.

The actor declined to make a statement when a judge gave him the opportunity.

At a retrial in April, Cosby was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45644374

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MSNBC said that because it's a sentence of more than 2 years, his house arrest will be immediately revoked and he'll be sent to jail for processing and then to prison.

Sentencing guidelines call for 22-36 months, they say.

Bail has been revoked and he'll be sent directly to jail. He'll be appealing but he will be in jail for at least some time, no matter what.

[Equinox Moon]

1. ...and 60! other women! 60!

Serial rapist.

(correct me if I have my number wrong)

[pnwmom]

2. I bet that's part of why the sentence is out of the usual guideline range,

which MSNBC said was 22-36 months.

[Jarqui]

24. that we know of ...

60 is roughly right - not sure of the latest number

But you can be sure a significant number did not come forward just like some probably saw what was happening to Dr. Ford and are saying nothing.

[busterbrown]

3. Wow... The images of Cosby in handcuffs...

are so powerful,and unsettling....Right now his lawyer is standing in a rainstorm.. adamantly claiming racism (falsified evidence)... Yea Right!

[PunkinPi]

4. Video of Cosby being led out in handcuffs via Twitter

Link to tweet

[forgotmylogin]

62. Chilling silence and footfalls and camera shutters. (n/t)

[left-of-center2012]

5. He appears to be blind or visually impaired

How does someone like that get around in prison?

Guessing he'll be put into a prison "old folks home"?

[demigoddess]

9. i think he was mostly faking. I saw this during the trial

going in and out like he was blind but then after the trial he walked all by himself and with no problems, totally different.

[Dave Starsky]

18. We all saw that.

He went into that trial looking like a hobbled old blind man, and he loped out after the verdict like an unimpaired teenager.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

72. Yup - and he was doing stand-up only months before being charged

He magically became blind and feeble during the first trial, got better when he pranced out after the mistrial, then was magically blind again for this.

He is an actor, after all.
Look no further than his Fallon appearances from just before the controversy. He was dancing and doing physical stuff just fine.

[Dave Starsky]

16. Well, for one thing, you don't have much space to get around in.

Your toilet is next to your bunk, and your sink is on top of your toilet. Pretty much everything you basically need is right there with you.

I, for one, think Cosby will do okay in the joint. Prisoners get starstruck, too. As much as (or more than) you and I would. He'll be looked after.

[RhodeIslandOne]

30. He's an actor. EOM

[Trust Buster]

6. Absolutely ridiculous to send an 81 year old man to prison. Nothing can be gained.

[Lochloosa]

7. Tell that to the women he raped.

[Trust Buster]

8. He was convicted on one charge. House arrest would be more logical. He is 81.

[demigoddess]

11. solitary would be a better choice. He will be waited on hand and foot and all he has to do

is sit and think.

[janterry]

17. There are lots of elderly prisoners in our system

If he got house arrest, he'd spend the remainder of his days on a multi-million dollar estate. Prison is for punishment.

He would not be punished living in his house, with servants, and the finest of everything.

[obamanut2012]

56. He was under house arrest until sentencing, and threw parties

And lived his good life. You or I would have been sitting in jail.

[yardwork]

50. He was convicted.

[obamanut2012]

54. YOur posts are always so....... interesting

[orleans]

80. (lol)

[bdamomma]

66. too much success

and feeling like they are entitled to everything including violating women's bodies. Kavanaugh isn't the first or the last of these fucking guys who think they are entitled to have their way with anything or anyone.

[Me.]

10. Do The Crime Cause You Shouldn't Have To Do The Time?

Nevermind those 60+ women.

[Trust Buster]

14. He was convicted on one charge, not 60.

[LanternWaste]

22. And he was sentenced on that one charge, not 60

Though I feel your frustration that he is required to own the consequences of actions without a valet, a cook or a driver...

[Me.]

27. More's The Pity

so we shouldn't convict for a single crime? What was that judge thinking?

[Harker]

12. Why should his age matter?

I can think of many older people who deserve to be imprisoned.

[Trust Buster]

15. It achieves absolutely nothing.

[Harker]

19. What about WWII nazi criminals?

I realize there's a dramatic difference in the scope and scale of the two issues, but should age enter into the decision to prosecute and punish them?

Cosby was pretty funny, and popular. In my view, that doesn't give him a pass, either.

[Trust Buster]

25. Interesting you mentioned that. In between posts I was thinking of that very same analogy.

I have also been uncomfortable with dragging 90 year olds across the world and trying and imprisoning them as well. I don’t excuse their horrible behavior but fail to see how imprisoning a 90 year old achieves much of anything.

[Harker]

32. Maybe punishment is enough...

the statement that time does not erase guilt and culpability. I've told my sweetheart that should I be murdered some day I would not want hypothetical prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

I have also been saddened by the trials and sentencing of elderly people convicted of crimes. There are painful subtleties involved. I have only reluctantly concluded that it's for the good to follow through.

[jberryhill]

33. We've never decided what is the purpose of our penal system

Most here on DU and elsewhere simply take it as a given that the purpose of the criminal justice system is primarily retributive. "Punishment" is the entire purpose and it is an end in itself. It probably has a lot to do with the way they were raised.

[Harker]

34. That might well be.

Though there may be a societal benefit in deterrence, it hardly seems just to apply a sentence to one to frighten another possible perpetrator.

I'm nearly sixty, and I am still working through the basic issues related to crime. I did things in my youth that, had they been detected, would have been punishable by law. I don't consider the vast majority of them to have been wrong.

I tend strongly toward seeing the world in shades of grey rather than absolutes.

[demigoddess]

82. purpose is to keep people from committing the same crime or crimes over again.

Keeping someone away from society is the only way of controlling them.

[jberryhill]

83. Okay, so if that is the purpose

Then you would be okay with confining him to his home.

If that were done, then how likely do you believe it would be for him to commit the same crime again?

[demigoddess]

87. he could lure people to his house, and abuse them.

[OnlinePoker]

21. It sends a message that nobody is above the law. n/t

[LanternWaste]

23. You keep alleging it "does nothing" with no evidence to support your claim.

What (objectively) does the same sentencing do to a much younger individual that it doesn't do to Mr Cosby, and what is the precise, relevant and objective difference?

[Trust Buster]

26. It will not rehabilitate him. It will not keep the community safer given the public awareness and

His frailty.

[VMA131Marine]

38. Why do you have more concern for the rapist

than his victims? Cosby has lived a full life free of the consequences of his actions until now. The victims of his crimes have had to live with the terror of what he did to them for years.

[pnwmom]

45. No, but it sends a message to potential perpetrators: this is what you are risking.

It might take many years, but if you hurt people like he did, you could wind up in his situation.

[Rorey]

47. Rehabilitation in prison is a myth.

I thought that was established a long time ago.

Prison is for punishment. He got away with most of his crimes because the statute of limitations ran out on other cases. It's just and right that he spend time in prison. I have no sympathy for him, no matter his age. He got to live a lot of good years while his victims never escaped what he did to them.

[agincourt]

65. It does work in certain countries,

like Norway for example that has only 20% recidivism. USA just does not have the programs and the personnel as well as political will to implement true prison rehab.

[Rorey]

71. Also, it's a money making business in some cases

You're right. I should have specified that there's no rehabilitation in prisons here in the U.S.

[jberryhill]

73. In US prisons, yes

Because we've never actually given it a try.

[bettyellen]

55. Will you say the same about Trump someday? I think DT shows there are always big blind spots

in “public awareness”.

[obamanut2012]

58. By your logic, we shuldn't imprison EAR/ONS aka the Golden State KIller

Literally, it is the same logic.

[Demsrule86]

36. It achieves justice for the woman/women he assaulted and raped....so you are incorrect in

my opinion

[obamanut2012]

57. Justice, but you know that

I know what you are doing, as does everyone else, on soooo many threads.

[Me.]

35. Such As The Comrade In The WH

[Harker]

39. There's an interesting example.

He's pretty old, and very frail in some regards. He's quite daft. He's treasonously selling us down the river.

His crimes are ongoing...

[LanternWaste]

20. Nothing can be gained if, and only if one dismisses justice as a concept.

Thankfully, you weren't involved in the sentencing of a rapist, and he will indeed, meet the a consequence of his actions.

[obamanut2012]

28. yawn

[RhodeIslandOne]

29. You're entitled to your opinion. EOM

[VMA131Marine]

37. What's ridiculous is your statement

Cosby used his celebrity to intimidate victims into not coming forward and you're saying that because he was able to avoid the day of reckoning for so long we should just let him off the hook. What kind of message does that send to future perpetrators about how they can avoid justice. The sentence is entirely proportionate, especially because Cosby has shown no remorse or accepted responsibility for what he did. Nobody wanted to see this happen, but he brought it on himself.

[Rorey]

43. Anyone who isn't a victim can't really surmise that.

Personally, I don't think we get to "age out" from punishment for our wrongdoings.

[obamanut2012]

53. Justice is gained

[mcar]

68. Won't somebody think of the poor old man rapist?????

How about we think of Justice for his 60 victims, hmmm?

[uppityperson]

74. Are you serious? If you can get by with your crimes until you are old, there should be no

serious penalty? It's ok to destroy the lives of others and say "I'm too old to penalize"?

[MicaelS]

86. Does the same thing apply to Whitey Bulger?

I mean he's old, but still committed murders decades ago. Should he have gotten house arrest?

[guillaumeb]

13. A sexually violent predator will not stop.

Jail is the best place to keep him and women safe.

[mikeysnot]

31. This hurts, I am glad justice was served for his victims

but he was one of my heroes growing up. My parents divorced when I was almost five and my dad lived in a one room studio in Lakeview area of Chicago. He had a B&W tv that got two stations so we would listed to his records and we would have him put this stand-up comedy record on, we would listen to both sides at night like old time radio. My dad took us to see him at the Auditorium Theater, Bill had the whole audience laughing, people were rolling in the aisle. He did not swear once.

Now a child hood memory is erased. Goes to show you cannot judge people by their cover.

[Rorey]

48. My husband had a very hard time accepting that one of his favorites could do what he did

Now he thinks that Cosby should have gotten 150 years.

It's hard to accept, sometimes, that some people have a very dark side.

[Rorey]

40. I'd like to buy a round of

Jello pudding for the house.

Seriously, it should have happened a long time ago.

I'd like to see Kavanaugh go next. Also trump, of course.

[pnwmom]

46. Cosby deserves this. And all the women he attacked deserve this outcome, too.

Last edited Tue Sep 25, 2018, 05:36 PM - Edit history (1)

Cosby assaulted dozens of women and it took DECADES for him to be sentenced to jail.

He wasn't convicted of giving them Benadryl -- he admitted to giving unknowing women QUAALUDES, and having sex with women while they were unconscious.

This is among the worst stories that have come out in the MeToo movement -- but this won't be the last. All sex offenders of all races are on notice now.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/arts/bill-cosby-deposition-reveals-calculated-pursuit-of-young-women-using-fame-drugs-and-deceit.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

Interest in Mr. Cosby’s deposition grew this month when a federal judge unsealed a 62-page memorandum of law in the case, which had been settled in 2006. The memorandum contained excerpts from the deposition, including Mr. Cosby’s acknowledgment that he had obtained quaaludes as part of his effort to have sex with women.

The parties have been prohibited from releasing the memorandum because of a confidentiality clause that was part of the settlement agreement, but the deposition itself was never sealed. This month, Ms. Constand’s lawyer asked the court to lift the confidentiality clause so her client would be free to release the nearly 1,000-page deposition transcript. The Times later learned that the transcript was already publicly available through a court reporting service.

These are the 35 women who had come forward as of 2015 -- with assaults dating back to the late 1960's.
There are others who did not come forward.

https://www.thecut.com/2015/07/bill-cosbys-accusers-speak-out.html

Cosby had a big espresso machine installed in the room, and he insisted (Beverly) Johnson have a cup. She didn’t want to argue, and took two sips. After the second, she knew she had been drugged. Cosby approached her, and put his hand on her waist. Johnson cursed him and called him out for drugging her. Cosby grabbed her arm and almost dragged her down the stairs, out of the house, and into a cab. “In the end, just like the other women, I had too much to lose to go after Bill Cosby,” Johnson wrote in her initial public testimonial about the incident, in Vanity Fair, in December 2014. “It comes at an inopportune time for a black man of Cosby’s stature. It’s a conversation of race very much needed in this country for centuries, and there’s a conversation about violence against women that’s also needed. You have these two conversations happening. Just so happens that I am a black woman. Once I made the decision, I knew that [it] was going to be fraught with a lot of conflicting views. No one wants to be victimized again.”

[Rorey]

49. Nothing is "happening to" Cosby

He did it to himself. He didn't get away with what HE DID to others.

[yardwork]

51. What a load of bullshit.

[obamanut2012]

60. Victim shaming

That twitter is a well-known misogynistic, and has also called Constand a She/He and a Shemale and an It, because she is gay.

I am wondering if the poster is the tweeter.

[yardwork]

63. Could be. Joined yesterday.

[obamanut2012]

59. yawn

especially giggilicious because Cosby was White America's favorite black man, because he criticized and undermined young black men and boys. I guess it was okay he raped black women, since he also raped white women by your logic, and that of that twitterer, who is a known misogynist. And is probably you.

shoo

[JHan]

69. ++ saw the post before it was hidden, the "everyone was doing it too" excuse..

... didn't work on our parents, it especially didn't work on our moms.

And not everyone was drugging and raping actresses in Hollywood. Even if drugging and raping were part of some accepted male norm of seduction, it's still reprehensible.

The Cosby apologia is bewildering to me. The idea that Cosby shouldn't have been subjected to justice because of injustices in the American Criminal System doesn't help victims, and it perverts activism for criminal justice reform.

It's the kind of reasoning that gives cover to rapists, allowing predators to inflict harm while others turn a blind eye because it's a brother doing it.

And I'm not surprised Tariq is carrying water for Cosby. I'm really not surprised.

[mcar]

67. So Cosby drugging and raping women is racism?

[NurseJackie]

42. What does "three to ten years" mean.... in real terms? Layman's terms?

Based on the things I've seen in the movies and on TV dramas, I'm guessing that he was sentenced to ten years and can be out sooner on good behavior... but will serve a minimum of three no matter what.

Is that accurate?

[Rorey]

44. I'm hoping it means he'll die there.

I know that's not a legal answer, but, y'know.....

[obamanut2012]

61. In PA it means three years BEFORE he can be eligible for supervised release

And then, may be denied.

Because of his age and fake eye issues, he'll probably be in the hospital wing, definitely not gen pop.

[joshcryer]

78. 3 years minimum. Because he's a "sexually violent predator..."

It likely means parole would require some serious effort to "reform" including but not limited to a full confession of each act he committed and efforts over his time in jail to seek therapy.

I am pretty sure he will die in prison.

[BigmanPigman]

52. HYPOCRITE!

He was always shaming people for not having high morals like he does, especially black youths. Typical behavior. He is now as guilty as Catholic priests and half the GOP!

[bdamomma]

64. Fucking tRump should be next

if they convict Nazi officers when they are in their 90's I suspect he will be next.....tic toc...tic toc.

[Maxheader]

70. Still bummed by it...

[dembotoz]

75. Bye bye

[pstokely]

76. soon to be another reality show

&lc=z12kinmi2ymuf32n523ytn0grqfqddhsd.1537914746412171

[riversedge]

77. Bill Cosby showed little emotion and no remorse during his sentencing. .............

Well. I do pity him if nothing else.





Bill Cosby showed little emotion and no remorse during his sentencing. At this defining moment in his life, there were no family members or former cast mates with him for moral support.

The court was filled, though, with several of his accusers who sat in the rows behind Andrea Constand.

Model Janice Dickenson clapped her hands in anticipation and joy, others quietly held hands. Their relief was evident when his sentence was finally read out. This was a moment they never thought possible. And they had front seats to witness it.

[dembotoz]

79. Wonder if they will serve jello pudding

[orleans]

81. he was a role model

and america's dad with one of america's favorite families

shame on him. such a disappointment. and what bizarre shit he did. america's favorite dad turned into a fucking horror story

he's 81. i think it's too bad he's going to jail at his age but he certainly deserves to--he should have gone there years ago.

shame shame shame on him. now the world knows what a horrible fucking asshole he really is.

[ansible]

85. He was my role model when I was a kid

I'm really disappointed at this whole shitshow, honestly wished it wasn't true.

[Owl]

84. Good! About time.