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| Bill Cosby is a 'sexually violent predator', judge rules | Bill Cosby is a 'sexually violent predator', judge rules |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A Pennsylvania judge has ruled Bill Cosby, the comic once dubbed America's Dad, is a sexually violent predator. | A Pennsylvania judge has ruled Bill Cosby, the comic once dubbed America's Dad, is a sexually violent predator. |
| The label means Cosby, 81, must undergo counselling for life and appear on the sex offenders' registry. | The label means Cosby, 81, must undergo counselling for life and appear on the sex offenders' registry. |
| A judge made the ruling ahead of sentencing the comedian for drugging and molesting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. | A judge made the ruling ahead of sentencing the comedian for drugging and molesting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. |
| At a retrial in April, Cosby was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault against Andrea Constand. | At a retrial in April, Cosby was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault against Andrea Constand. |
| Tuesday's classification means he will need to register with state police and notify any community he lives in of his sex offender status, as well as undergo mandatory counselling for life. | Tuesday's classification means he will need to register with state police and notify any community he lives in of his sex offender status, as well as undergo mandatory counselling for life. |
| Neighbours, childcare centres and schools will have be notified of his whereabouts. | Neighbours, childcare centres and schools will have be notified of his whereabouts. |
| The actor's defence team had argued the state's sex offender law was too severe given Cosby's age and the fact that he is legally blind. | |
| The disgraced comedian's two-day hearing at Montgomery County Courthouse in Pennsylvania began on Monday with legal debate over the violent predator label. | The disgraced comedian's two-day hearing at Montgomery County Courthouse in Pennsylvania began on Monday with legal debate over the violent predator label. |
| Psychologist Kristen Dudley testified on Monday that Cosby showed signs of a mental disorder and was likely to reoffend. | |
| In addition to the label, Cosby still faces a maximum prison term of 10 years after an agreement between prosecutors and his defence team, but there is no mandatory minimum for the convictions. | |
| The Montgomery County District Attorney, Kevin Steele, called for five to 10 years in jail for aggravated indecent assault. | |
| Cosby's defence is pushing instead for house arrest. | |
| In June 2017, Ms Constand described how Cosby, whom she viewed as a "mentor", gave her pills that left her "frozen" and unable to stop his assault. | |
| In Ms Constand's impact statement, provided to reporters by the prosecution team on Tuesday, she said: "To truly understand the impact that the sexual assault has had on my life, you have to understand the person that I was before it happened." | |
| Ms Constand wrote that she stopped eating, sleeping and socialising in the wake of the assault. She said she had been a "young woman brimming with confidence" before Cosby took that from her. | |
| "Bill Cosby took my beautiful, healthy young spirit and crushed it. He robbed me of my health and vitality, my open nature, and my trust in myself and others." | |
| Lili Bernard and former model Janice Dickinson - both Cosby accusers present at the hearing - tweeted on Tuesday: "May justice be served! #MeToo". | |
| Cosby's wife, Camille, has not been present at the sentencing. | |
| The comedian was arrested in 2015 and a deadlocked jury resulted in a mistrial in June 2017. | |
| This year's retrial occurred amid the #MeToo movement that has seen people worldwide come forward to share stories of sexual harassment and assault. |