Bill Cosby sentenced to three to 10 years in jail for sexual assault

US comedian Bill Cosby was sentenced

to three to 10 years in a state prison on Tuesday for drugging and

sexually assaulting a woman more than a decade ago.

Cosby was detained immediately, after his defence lawyer Joseph Green

failed in his bid to have the 81-year-old celebrity freed on bail

pending an application for an appeal to a higher state court.

Cosby was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs by police officers

and was expected to be taken to jail later Tuesday. A first mug shot

was released hours after the sentence was announced. In it, Cosby is

wearing a white shirt and braces, not looking into the camera.

Steven O'Neill, the judge presiding over the trial in Pennsylvania,

also declared the man once known as "America's Dad" to be a "sexually

violent predator," meaning Cosby's name will appear on a register of

US sex offenders.

"No one is above the law and no one should be treated differently

because of where they live, who they are, or because of wealth, fame,

celebrity or even philanthropy," O'Neill said.

"Committing a drugging sexual assault comes with a heavy price and

that price is your liberty," he told Cosby, who showed no emotion as

the judge spoke. His lawyers had pushed for house arrest.

The star was also sentenced to pay a 25,000-dollar fine and court

costs.

Cosby did not speak during the sentencing hearing, nor did he respond

to reporters' questions. "Mr Cosby is doing great and Mr Cosby knows

that God is watching over him," his spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, told

dpa.

Wyatt also condemned the trial, saying there had never been more

racist or sexist proceedings in US history. He drew parallels to an

ongoing political fight surrounding US Supreme Court nominee Brett

Kavanaugh, whose nomination process has been slowed down by

allegations of decades-old sexual attacks.

Prosecutors said they did not see the incarceration as a reason to

celebrate, saying that they were simply doing their job in putting

away a man who assaulted a woman.

"It's been a long time coming," said prosecutor Kevin Steele. "Bill

Cosby has been unmasked and we have seen the real man as he is off to

prison."

Cosby's family was not present in court to hear the verdict.

The octogenarian must now serve his sentence in one of Pennsylvania's

24 state prisons: new convicts are assessed at a central location to

decide which of the jails they will be sent to based on the severity

of their crime and their health.

It was the first celebrity conviction in the era of the #MeToo

movement, which has brought down high-profile men in entertainment,

journalism, politics, Silicon Valley and elsewhere.

Cosby was the star of "The Cosby Show," a top-rated sitcom in the

1980s and early 90s where he played physician and family man Cliff

Huxtable. But he had already achieved fame before the show for

multiple stand-up tours, movies and television appearances.

He was found guilty in April of assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.

She was an employee of Pennsylvania's Temple University at the time.

This year's proceedings were the court's second look at the case,

after a mistrial was declared in June 2017.

"For decades the defendant has been able to hide his true self and

his true crimes. He hid behind the character he created, Dr Cliff

Huxtable: It was fiction," Public Prosecutor Kevin Steele said on

Tuesday.

"Now finally Bill Cosby has been unmasked and we have seen the real

man as he is headed off to prison," Steele said. He said that

"justice was served."

More than 50 women have come forward to publicly accuse Cosby of

sexual assault spanning several decades, although only Constand's

allegation has gone to trial.

Cosby's lawyers have said they will appeal the conviction, which

observers say could push the case up to Pennsylvania's highest court

and take several years.

dpa

• Bill Cosby's wife calls for investigation into sentencing judge

• Cosby victim asks only for 'justice' at sentencing hearing

• Cosby sentencing caps fall from 'America's Dad' to convicted felon