Bill Cosby was found guilty today on three counts of sexual assault. The 80-year-old comedian, actor, and author has been accused of rape, drug-facilitated sexual assault, and sexual battery by more than 60 women.
Cosby was tried on felony assault charges last year, but the case ended in a dead-locked jury and was declared a mistrial.
According to the New York Times,
A jury found Bill Cosby guilty Thursday of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home near here 14 years ago, capping the downfall of one of the world’s best-known entertainers, and offering a measure of satisfaction to the dozens of women who for years have accused him of similar assaults against them.
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The three counts — penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant — are felonies, each punishable by up to 10 years in state prison, though the sentences could be served concurrently.
According to the Wall Street Journal, prosecutors argued that Cosby was a “serial predator” who earned the trust of young women before drugging and abusing them sexually. Five of his victimes testified that they had been drugged and raped or molested by Cosby in the 1980s.