Legendary comedian, TV and movie star Bill Cosby was found guilty on three counts in a sexual assault trial on Thursday.
Cosby had been accused of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a former employee of Temple University, at his home in Pennsylvania in 2004. The actor was in his 60s at the time, and Constand was 30.
His trial was the first celebrity trial since the launch of the #MeToo movement, which brought thousands of women to speak publicly about their experiences with sexual assault and harassment.
The three counts were for aggravated indecent assault without consent, while unconscious or unaware that penetration is occurring, and while intoxicated or drugged.
Cosby, 80, faces up to 10 years in prison for each count.
Constand, who considered Cosby to be a mentor, said the actor offered her three blue pills he called “your friends” that night at his Pennsylvania mansion in 2004, which she initially thought were herbal remedies. But the former women’s basketball administrator said after taking the pills, her vision began to blur and her words slur.
Cosby then penetrated Constand with his fingers and groped her, she said.
Cosby reportedly told police in 2005 he gave Constand medicine but did not say what it was. Police declined to charge him at the time.
The comedian also reportedly admitted during a deposition that in the 1970s, he obtained several prescriptions for quaaludes, sedatives he would offer to women he thought were attractive.
The man once known to millions as “America’s Dad” first faced the three counts of aggravated indecent assault in December 2015, and Cosby pleaded not guilty.
The jury deadlocked during the initial trial last year.
But during the second trial, the jury reached its verdict after 14 hours of deliberations. Jurors also heard testimony from five other accusers, including former model Janice Dickinson who said Cosby gave her a blue pill during an encounter in 1982 that left her lightheaded and with difficulty speaking.
According to reports, several women who accused Cosby of sexual misconduct were in attendance and cheered when the verdict was announced.
