Bill Cosby arrives for his sentencing hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, in Norristown, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) (Associated Press) 
 
 Bill Cosby arrives for his sentencing hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, in Norristown, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) (Associated Press) 
 
 NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Facing the possibility of prison at 81, Bill Cosby arrived at a suburban Philadelphia courthouse Tuesday to learn his punishment for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman over a decade ago in what led to the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era. 
 
 Prosecutors on Monday asked a judge to give the comedian five to 10 years behind bars, while his lawyers asked for house arrest, saying the legally blind Cosby is too old and helpless to do time in prison. 
 
 Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said the former TV star planned to remain silent when given the opportunity to address the court. Cosby did not testify at either of his two trials. 
 
 The once-beloved entertainer dubbed America's Dad for his role as Dr. Cliff Huxtable on the top-ranked, 1980s-era "Cosby Show" faced anywhere from probation to 10 years in prison for violating Temple University women's basketball administrator Andrea Constand at his estate near Philadelphia in 2004. 
 
 In the years since Constand first went to authorities in 2005, more than 60 women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct, though none of those claims have led to criminal charges. 
 
 Tuesday's sentencing was a reckoning accusers and prosecutors said was decades in the making. 
 
 "The victims cannot be un-raped. Unfortunately, all we can do is hold the perpetrator accountable," said Gianna Constand, the victim's mother, who testified Monday that her daughter's buoyant personality was forever changed after the attack. 
 
 The hearing was set to conclude Tuesday after testimony from a defense psychologist who says Cosby is no longer a danger, given his age, and should not be branded a "sexually violent predator." 
 
 Defense lawyer Joseph Green Jr. urged the judge ignore the protests and activism surrounding the case and send Cosby home. 
 
 "The suggestion that Mr. Cosby is dangerous is not supported by anything other than the frenzy," Green said as demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse. 
 
 Being labeled a sexually violent predator would make Cosby subject to mandatory lifetime counseling and community notification of his whereabouts. 
 
 On Monday, Kristen Dudley, a psychologist for the state of Pennsylvania, testified that Cosby fits the criteria for a sexually violent predator, showing signs of a mental disorder that involves an uncontrollable urge to have nonconsensual sex with young women. 
 
 Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Cosby would no doubt commit similar crimes if given the chance, warning that the former TV star seemingly gets a sexual thrill out of slipping women drugs and assaulting them. 
 
 "To say that he's too old to do that — to say that he should get a pass, because it's taken this long to catch up to what he's done?" Steele said, his voice rising. "What they're asking for is a 'get out of jail free' card." 
 
 Cosby, he said, has shown repeatedly that he feels no remorse over his actions. And he said the sentence should send a message. 
 
 "Despite bullying tactics, despite PR teams and other folks trying to change the optics, as one lawyer for the defense put it, the bottom line is that nobody's above the law. Nobody," the district attorney said. 
 
 After testifying for several hours at two trials, the first of which ended in a hung jury, Constand spoke in court Monday for just two minutes. 
 
 "The jury heard me. Mr. Cosby heard me. Now all I am asking for is justice as the court sees fit," said Andrea Constand, who submitted a much longer victim-impact statement that wasn't read in court. 
 
 The AP does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, which Constand and other accusers have done. 
 
 Cosby's side didn't call any character witnesses, and his wife of 54 years, Camille, was not in court Monday. 
 
 Cosby became the first black actor to star in a prime-time TV show, "I Spy," in 1965. He remained a Hollywood A-lister for much of the next half-century. 
 
 The proceedings took place as another extraordinary #MeToo drama continued to unfold on Capitol Hill, where Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces allegations of sexual misconduct from more than three decades ago. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Claudia Lauer contributed to this report. ||||| Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) 
 
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 NORRISTOWN, Pa. — See you in three to 10 years, Pops. 
 
 Bill Cosby, once beloved as “America’s Dad” by millions of TV viewers, was slapped with the stiff prison sentence Tuesday for drugging and sexually assaulting one of his many accusers. 
 
 The 81-year-old former sitcom star, who won’t be eligible for parole for at least three years, chewed on a fingernail and looked up at the ceiling as Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill slammed him for drugging Andrea Constand at his home in suburban Philadelphia in 2004, then sexually abusing her when she was virtually unconscious. 
 
 “It was planned predation — the pills, the planning, the penetration without her consent — your own words in your deposition,” O’Neill seethed to Cosby. “You claimed her silence was her consent — that is not the law. Your version of consent was rejected by the jury. That underscores how serious this crime is. 
 
 “No one is above the law, and no one should be treated differently, or disproportionately, in terms of where they live, who they are, or in terms of wealth or philanthropy.” 
 
 Sitting with her family in the front row of the courtroom, Constand stared straight ahead as O’Neill spoke. She later emerged from the courtroom smiling. 
 
 “More than 60 other women have self-identified as sexual-assault victims of Bill Cosby,’’ Constand had said in a statement submitted to the judge. “We may never know the full extent of his double life as a sexual predator, but his decades-long reign of terror as a serial rapist is over.” 
 
 Cosby, who has refused to admit any wrongdoing, bizarrely burst out laughing and cracked jokes with his team just before he was taken into custody. 
 
 But the married dad of five, who claims to be legally blind and uses a cane to walk, didn’t find any humor in sheriff’s officers later stripping him of his tie, wallet and watch and cuffing him in front. 
 
 A grim-faced Cosby clutched his wooden cane in both hands as he was led out of the courtroom and down a corridor. 
 
 Neither his children nor his wife of 54 years, Camille, was there to see justice meted out. 
 
 A few hours later, Cosby was booked into the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Eagleville, Pa., for his first stop in the system — and photographed in his mugshot looking as if he were about to cry. 
 
 Dinner at the prison Tuesday consisted of veal patty, pasta, gravy, mixed veggies, tomato salad — and, ironically for the once beloved Jell-O pitchman, pudding, according to reports. 
 
 After the evening meal, Cosby was shipped to his next stop, the State Correctional Institution Phoenix in Collegeville. After about 10 days, he’ll then be sent to a state lockup determined by the Department of Corrections. 
 
 O’Neill had refused to let Cosby remain free on $1 million bail pending his appeal, saying the infamous sex offender “could quite possibly be a danger to the community.” 
 
 Earlier in the day, O’Neill sided with the state in determining that Cosby was a “sexually violent predator,’’ a drastic designation. It includes mandated monthly counseling on top of him already having to register as a sex offender for life. 
 
 Cosby will have to serve three years in prison before he’s eligible for parole. 
 
 He is the first celebrity convicted on sex-assault charges in wake of the #MeToo movement that has engulfed some of the entertainment industry’s most powerful men, including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Matt Lauer, Morgan Freeman and Louis CK. 
 
 Once beloved for his warm portrayal of Brooklyn family man Dr. Cliff Huxtable on the TV hit “The Cosby Show” in the ’80s, he has spent his twilight years battling a torrent of sex-assault allegations that spanned decades. 
 
 Roughly 60 women came forward to say Cosby committed sex crimes against them, including rape, with some filing civil lawsuits because the statute of limitations on criminal charges in their cases had expired. 
 
 He nearly dodged any criminal prosecution altogether — but was finally charged in Constand’s case in December 2015, just before the 12-year statute of limitations on it ran out. 
 
 Prosecutors reopened the case after portions of his damning deposition in her 2005 civil suit were unsealed. In his statements, Cosby openly admitted to giving Quaaludes to young women before having sex with them. 
 
 Cosby, who did not address the court at sentencing, had faced anywhere from zero to 10 years for molesting Constand. He was convicted at a retrial in April after jurors in his first trial deadlocked. 
 
 O’Neill said the evidence against Cosby was bolstered by chilling testimony in the second trial from Constand and five other accusers — supermodel Janice Dickinson, Chelan Lasha, Janice Baker-Kinney, Lise-Lotte Lublin and Heidi Thomas. 
 
 “To hear voices from the past, your past, Mr. Cosby, saying, ‘This happened to me,’ six times — those voices said over and over and over again over time, and it was a valuable piece used by the jury in determining your guilt,’’ the judge said. 
 
 see also Cosby accusers: Sentencing finally sets us free “I prayed every day that Mr. Cosby would go to... 
 
 Cosby was 66 when he molested Constand, then 30 and a basketball administrator at Temple University, his alma mater. He earned her trust by offering career advice, she said. 
 
 Cosby oddly grunted, then nodded his head up and down, when O’Neill recalled Constand’s victim-impact statement. 
 
 “As she said, Mr. Cosby, you took her beautiful young healthy spirit and you crushed it,” O’Neill said. 
 
 In her five-page statement, which was not read out loud in court, Constand relived her guilt following the assault. 
 
 “I dreamed that another woman was being assaulted right in front of me and it was all my fault. In the dream, I was consumed with guilt and pretty soon, that agonizing feeling spilled over into my waking hours too,” she wrote. 
 
 “I became more and more anxious that what had happened to me was going to happen to someone else. I grew terrified that it might already be too late, that the sexual assaults were continuing because I didn’t speak out.” 
 
 Prosecutors requested that Cosby be put away for five to 10 years. Cosby’s lawyers had begged for house arrest or probation, citing his age and health. 
 
 Outside the courthouse, Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt compared him to Jesus — then quickly walked back his comments. 
 
 “They persecuted Jesus and look what happened,” Wyatt said. “Not saying Mr. Cosby is Jesus, but we know what this country has done to black men for centuries.” 
 
 But women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred, who has repped many of Cosby’s accusers, said, “This has been a long journey to justice for all of [them]. 
 
 Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said: “And so finally, Bill Cosby has been unmasked, and we’ve seen the real man, who’s headed off to prison.” ||||| Bill Cosby arrives for his sentencing hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, in Norristown, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) (Associated Press) 
 
 Bill Cosby arrives for his sentencing hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, in Norristown, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) (Associated Press) 
 
 NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A judge declared Bill Cosby a "sexually violent predator" on Tuesday as a first step toward sentencing the 81-year-old comedian for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman over a decade ago. 
 
 The classification means that Cosby must undergo monthly counseling for the rest of his life and report quarterly to authorities. His name will appear on a sex-offender registry sent to neighbors, schools and victims. 
 
 Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill made the decision as he prepared to sentence Cosby for violating Temple University women's basketball administrator Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia estate in 2004. 
 
 The comic once known as America's Dad faced anywhere from probation to 10 years in prison after being convicted in April in the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era. 
 
 Prosecutors asked for five to 10 years in prison. The defense requested house arrest, saying Cosby is too old and helpless to do time behind bars. He is legally blind. 
 
 Cosby's lawyers had fought the "sexually violent predator" designation, arguing that Pennsylvania's sex-offender law remains unconstitutional and that he is no threat to the public at his age. 
 
 But O'Neill said prosecutors had met their burden of proof by "clear and convincing" evidence. 
 
 When the ruling came down, a woman in courtroom shot her fist into the air and whispered, "Yessss!" 
 
 Meanwhile, Constand said in a statement submitted to the ocurt and released Tuesday that she has had to cope with years of anxiety and self-doubt that have left her "stuck in a holding pattern." 
 
 Constand, 45, said her training as a professional basketball player had led her to think she could handle anything, but "life as I knew it" ended on the night that Cosby knocked her out with pills and violated her. 
 
 Constand said she now lives alone with her two dogs and has trouble trusting people. 
 
 "When the sexual assault happened, I was a young woman brimming with confidence and looking forward to a future bright with possibilities," she wrote in her five-page statement. 
 
 "Now, almost 15 years later, I'm a middle-aged woman who's been stuck in a holding pattern for most of her adult life, unable to heal fully or to move forward." 
 
 In the years since Constand first went to authorities in 2005, more than 60 women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct, though none of those claims have led to criminal charges. 
 
 The judge ruled on Cosby's sex-offender status after a defense psychologist, Timothy Foley, testified that the chances of the comedian committing another sex offense are "extraordinarily low" because he is old, legally blind and needs help getting around. 
 
 On Monday, a psychologist for the state testified that Cosby appears to have a mental disorder that gives him an uncontrollable urge to assault women. 
 
 Cosby was smiling and joking with his spokesman and sheriff's deputies as he settled into the courtroom Tuesday. On Day 1 of the sentencing, the comic laughed at times as the psychologist on the stand for the state portrayed him as a sexual predator with signs of a mental disorder. 
 
 Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom; they are generally banned in Pennsylvania. 
 
 Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said the former TV star planned to remain silent when given the opportunity to address the court. Cosby did not testify at either of his two trials. 
 
 The proceedings took place as another extraordinary #MeToo drama continued to unfold on Capitol Hill, where Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces allegations of sexual misconduct from more than three decades ago. 
 
 Tuesday's sentencing was a reckoning accusers and prosecutors said was decades in the making for the once-beloved entertainer known for his role as wise and understanding Dr. Cliff Huxtable on the top-ranked, 1980s-era "Cosby Show." 
 
 The AP does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, which Constand and other accusers have done. 
 
 Cosby became the first black actor to star in a prime-time TV show, "I Spy," in 1965. He remained a Hollywood A-lister for much of the next half-century. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Claudia Lauer contributed to this report.
– Bill Cosby will be going to prison at 81. The judge in the case said Tuesday that he will put Cosby behind bars for three to 10 years, per AP, for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman over a decade ago in what led to the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era. Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill said he would not settle for probation or "partial confinement" such as house arrest, reports the New York Post. The judge also labeled Cosby a "sexually violent predator," reports the AP. The classification means that Cosby must undergo lifetime counseling and report quarterly to authorities. His name will appear on a sex-offender registry sent to neighbors, schools, and victims. The once-beloved entertainer dubbed America's Dad for his role as Dr. Cliff Huxtable on the Cosby Show faces up to 10 years in prison for violating Temple University women's basketball administrator Andrea Constand at his estate near Philadelphia in 2004. Prosecutors on Monday asked a judge to give the comedian five to 10 years behind bars, while his lawyers asked for house arrest, saying the legally blind Cosby is too old and helpless to do time in prison, per the AP. In the years since Constand first went to authorities in 2005, more than 60 women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct, though none of those claims have led to criminal charges.