NORRISTOWN, Pa. _ Bill Cosby's spectacular journey from one of America's most beloved entertainers to disgraced sex offender drew toward a close Tuesday when the aging actor and comedian was classified as a serial predator ahead of his sentencing for sexually assaulting a former friend.
Cosby declined the opportunity to make a statement, waiving his right to have the last word before the judge imposes a sentence.
The classification means that Cosby, 81, must undergo monthly counseling for the rest of his life and report quarterly to authorities. His name will appear on a sex offender registry sent to neighbors, schools and victims.
Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill made the decision as he prepared to sentence Cosby for sexually assaulting Temple University women's basketball administrator Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia estate in 2004.
Prosecutors have called for Cosby to spend five to 10 years in prison and pay a $25,000 fine, arguing that he is a sexual predator who has shown no remorse. Meanwhile, the defense team has countered that Cosby, who walks with a wooden cane and is legally blind, should be put under house arrest as he poses no risk to the community.
The first major celebrity to go on trial in the #MeToo era, Cosby was convicted in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and molesting Constand.
Cosby, who has maintained his innocence, initially faced up to 30 years in prison, but on Monday O'Neill said the defense and prosecution had agreed to merge the three counts of his conviction into one.
Pennsylvania's sentencing guidelines for indecent aggravated assault call for a sentence of 22 to 36 months for a defendant with no previous criminal record, plus or minus 12 months due to aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
Dozens of women have come forward in recent years to accuse Cosby of sexual misconduct, but Constand is the only woman whose complaint has led to a criminal conviction.
The barrage of accusations against Cosby has shocked and unnerved a nation that grew up watching him on television in the role of a decent, wholesome, exemplary family man.
In the public imagination, he was "America's Dad," synonymous with Dr. Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable, the kindly, respectable, upper-middle-class obstetrician he portrayed on "The Cosby Show," his popular and groundbreaking television sitcom that aired for eight seasons from 1984 until 1992.
The sentencing wraps up a long back-and-forth between Cosby and Constand. The onetime basketball official at Cosby's alma mater first reported an assault to police in 2005. However, the Montgomery County district attorney at the time did not press charges, so she brought a civil suit against Cosby. It was not until a decade later, when a series of women came forward with accusations against Cosby, that the new district attorney, Kevin Steele, reopened the case.
In 2017, the first trial ended with a hung jury.
In the April retrial, a jury of seven men and five women found Cosby guilty of assault with lack of consent, penetration while the victim was unconscious, and assault after impairing the victim with an intoxicant.
Cosby, who posted $1 million bail, has been confined to his home outside Philadelphia during the last five months, fitted with a GPS monitor and limited to travel only to visit his attorneys or for medical reasons.
His defense team has indicated it plans to appeal. The judge must decide whether to allow Cosby to remain out on bail while he pursues what it is likely to be a long appeals process.
Before the judge classified Cosby as a sexual predator, a final defense witness, psychologist Timothy Foley, said that the actor did not present a significant risk to the community.
Constand submitted a written victim impact statement, which was made public Tuesday in court. On Monday, she spent less than two minutes on the stand.
"Your honor, I have testified, I have given you my victim impact statement," Constand told the court. "The jury heard me, Mr. Cosby heard me and now all I am asking for is justice as the court sees fit."
