Gloria Allred: 'Judgement Day Has Come For Bill Cosby'
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NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS/AP) -- A high-powered attorney says "judgement day has come for Bill Cosby" after the 81-year-old actor and comedian was sentenced to three to 10 years behind bars.
Cosby was found guilty in April of drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
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"We're glad that judgement day has finally come for Mr. Cosby," said attorney Gloria Allred, who represents women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault. "Mr. Cosby has shown no remorse, and there has been no justice for many of the accusers who were barred from a court by the arbitrary time-limit imposed by the statute of limitations, but many of them were brave enough to speak to law enforcement and some of them were chosen to testify as prior bad act witnesses."
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele says "justice has been served."
"For decades, the defendant has been able to hide his true self and hide his crimes using his fame and fortune," said Steele, adding, "finally, Bill Cosby has been unmasked and we have seen the real man before he heads off to prison."
Steele also had high praise for Constand for staying strong throughout the entire ordeal.
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"I can't say enough about her. We are all better off because she is in our lives. She has been through an ordeal for the past 14 years and she has been solid and steadfast," said Steele. "To put herself out like this for years in front of a worldwide audience is extremely difficult for anyone. She's been a rock, she's done the right thing over and over and over again."
Cosby accuser Stacey Pinkerton told CBS3 she traveled from Europe to the Montgomery County Courthouse for closure.
"Closure means you can close that chapter and move on. You need to feel that there is justice and justice has been done," she said. "To me he was always a predator, and it's just now he's leaving as a convicted predator."
In a blistering statement, Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said the comic was subjected to the "most racist and sexist trial in the history of the United States."
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Among other things, Wyatt said all three of the psychologists who testified against Cosby were "white women who make money off of accusing black men of being sexual predators," and he accused prosecutors of using a doctored recording of a telephone conversation between Constand's mother and Cosby.
Cosby's lawyers asked that he be allowed to remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction, but the judge appeared incredulous over the request and ordered him locked up immediately, saying that "he could quite possibly be a danger to the community."
Cosby left the Montgomery County courthouse in handcuffs following the sentencing. Cosby will be at a Montgomery County prison for a few days and then go to SCI Phoenix for diagnostic and intake.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)