Pennsylvania state board declares Bill Cosby a ‘sexually violent predator’
A Pennsylvania board has recommended that Bill Cosby be officially declared as a “sexually violent predator,” a classification that would require the convicted comedian to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and attend monthly sex offender counseling.
Tuesday, District Attorney Kevin R. Steele filed a request in court, citing the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board’s recommendations while also requesting that Judge Steven T. O’Neill schedule a hearing to determine whether or not Cosby gets the designation.
“We will see them in court,” responded Cosby’s spokesman, Andrew Wyatt.
Pennsylvania state law defines a sexually violent predator as a person who has “a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely to engage in predatory sexually violent offenses.”
READ MORE: Dollar store manager calls police on Black woman for using too many coupons
Specific details about the Board’s findings on Cosby have not been made public, but according to Meghan Dade, the Board’s executive director, their group is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and criminal justice professionals who make these findings based on a 14-point assessment and an interview, if the defendant and their attorney grants one.
READ MORE: Teacher who made noose symbol to intimidate Black student won’t face charges
Legally, Cosby will be permitted to respond to these findings and have his own expert perform an assessment and testify about his designation as a sexually violent predator.
On April 26th, a Montgomery County jury found Cosby guilty of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, after a weeks long trial that included testimony from five of the other women who had also have accused him of sexual misconduct. He has been on house arrest at his home in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania since the conviction and is scheduled to be sentenced in September.
Despite this latest blow, Wyatt maintains that his client is doing “great.”
Cosby still has his proponents who believe the legendary comedian is being railroaded because he’s a powerful Black man in Hollywood, while others want to see justice served for all the victims that have been affected by his lecherous past.
READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Issa Rae on her Emmy nomination and ‘Insecure’ Season 3
https://twitter.com/ShaunnaLMurphy/status/1021797939331706880
