Bill Cosby Is A Sexually Violent Predator, Says State Panel, Judge To Later Rule On Classification
Bill Cosby will be sentenced in September, but in the meantime, the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board has found Cosby to be a “sexually violent predator,” according to the New York Times. Whether Cosby will be formally classified as such is up to the judge. Board director Meghan Dade said that “Judges agree at least 75 percent of the time,” detailed USA Today.
The definition of a sexually violent predator is “a person convicted of one or more of a sexually violent offenses specified in the law and who has a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely to engage in predatory sexually violent offenses.” The board also considered 14 factors, including Cosby’s history of alleged abuse and degree of crimes committed.
If the judge upholds the state board’s evaluation, Cosby would be required to register as a sex offender and it could lengthen Cosby’s prison sentence. The maximum time that he faces is 30 years.
Before the judge makes their final decision on the classification, the assessment board will testify and answer questions from both the prosecutors and defendants.
However, some believe that the judge may consider Cosby unlikely to commit new sexual abuse crimes because he is older and legally blind.
A Pennsylvania state board has determined that Bill Cosby is a “sexually violent predator." That could play a role in his sentencing. https://t.co/qtpfZIW5Tg
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 24, 2018
Radar Online previously reported that Cosby was “furious” after the board made the recommendation that he be considered a sexually violent predator. A source added that “The results of that evaluation are a key reason why he booted his legal team!”
The assessment reportedly took place over two days at his estate last month. The recommendation is the highest classification available, and comes after he turned down a light six-month jail sentence as a “low-level offender.
Cosby allegedly “snapped” during the evaluation, and supposedly “shouted at them that they were trying to trap him into saying things that would incriminate him further!”
The panel was grilling Cosby about his sexual abuse of Andrea Constand, who says that Cosby gave her a blue pill which made her lose consciousness. She remembers waking up groggy to a sexual assault. The source added that Cosby appeared to be joking about things all throughout the evaluation, and refused to answer some questions.
Whatever happened, the final decisions will be made in court. Whether Cosby will face any prison time, and if so how long, remains to be seen. His sentencing is expected to take place on September 24 and 25. In the meantime, he’s under house arrest in his Pennsylvania mansion.
