September 26, 2018
Page 5
Judge Sentences Cosby to Prison
C ontinueD from p age 2
while he appeals his conviction,
but the judge appeared incredu-
lous over the request and ordered
him locked up immediately, say-
ing that “he could quite possibly
be a danger to the community.”
The comedian removed his
watch, tie and jacket and walked
out in a white dress shirt and red
suspenders, his hands cuffed in
front of him. He must serve the
minimum of three years before
becoming eligible for parole.
“For decades, the defendant
has been able to hide his true self
and hide his crimes using his fame
and fortune. He’s hidden behind a
character created, Dr. Cliff Hux-
table,” Montgomery County Dis-
trict Attorney Kevin Steele said
at a news conference, referring
to Cosby’s best-known role. But
“now, finally, Bill Cosby has been
unmasked, and we have seen the
real man as he is headed off to
prison.”
Constand stood at Steele’s side
but shook her head to say she had
no comment.
Former model Janice Dickin-
son, who was among the 60 or so
women who have come forward
to accuse Cosby of drugging and
violating them over the past five
decades, looked at him in the
courtroom and said: “Here’s the
last laugh, pal.”
Another accuser in the court-
room, Lili Bernard, said: “There
is solace, absolutely. It is his fame
and his fortune and his phony
philanthropy that has allowed him
to get away with impunity. Maybe
this will send a message to other
powerful perpetrators that they
will be caught and punished.”
The punishment, which also in-
cluded a $25,000 fine, came at the
end of a two-day hearing at which
the judge declared Cosby a “sex-
ually violent predator” — a mod-
ern-day scarlet letter that subjects
him to monthly counseling for the
rest of his life and requires that
neighbors and schools be notified
of his whereabouts.
The comic once known as
America’s Dad for his role on
the top-rated “Cosby Show” in
the 1980s was convicted in April
of violating Constand, Temple
University women’s basketball
administrator, at his suburban
Philadelphia mansion in 2004. It
was the first celebrity trial of the
#MeToo era.
Cosby faced anywhere from
probation to 10 years in prison.
His lawyers asked for house arrest,
saying Cosby — who is legally
blind — is too old and vulnerable
to do time in prison. Prosecutors
asked for five to 10 years behind
bars, saying he could still pose a
threat to women.
The sentencing came as anoth-
er extraordinary #MeToo drama
unfolded on Capitol Hill, where
Supreme Court nominee Brett Ka-
vanaugh stands accused of sexual
misconduct more than three de-
cades ago.
Sonia Ossorio, president of the
National Organization for Women
of New York, credited Cosby’s ac-
cusers with helping pave the way
for the #MeToo movement.
“Bill Cosby seeing the inside of
a prison cell sends a strong mes-
sage that predators — no matter
who they are, from Hollywood to
Wall Street to the Supreme Court
— can no longer be protected at
the expense of victims,” she said.
The judge ruled on Cosby’s
“sexually violent predator” status
after a psychologist for the state
testified that the entertainer ap-
pears to have a mental disorder
that gives him an uncontrollable
urge to have sex with women
without their consent. When the
ruling came down, a woman in the
courtroom shot her fist into the air
and whispered, “Yessss!”
In a statement submitted to the
court and released Tuesday, Con-
stand, 45, said that she has had
to cope with years of anxiety and
self-doubt. She said she now lives
alone with her two dogs and has
trouble trusting people.
“When the sexual assault hap-
pened, I was a young woman
brimming with confidence and
looking forward to a future bright
with possibilities,” she wrote in
her five-page statement. “Now,
almost 15 years later, I’m a mid-
dle-aged woman who’s been stuck
in a holding pattern for most of her
adult life, unable to heal fully or to
move forward.”
She also wrote of Cosby: “We
may never know the full extent of
his double life as a sexual preda-
tor, but his decades-long reign of
terror as a serial rapist is over.”
College Fund Night Celebration
C ontinueD from p age 3
with the tools to get to college and
be successful.
Dr. Karin Edwards, president of
the Portland Community College
Cascade Campus; Dr. Michele
Cruse, dean of students at the PCC
Cascade Campus; Joy Fowler,
vice president Umpqua Bank; and
Ruth Williams Brinkley, president
Pacific NW Region Kaiser Foun-
dation Hospitals & Health Plan
will be honored for their outstand-
ing support of the UNCF Portland
Portfolio Project.
For more information, visit
uncf.org/pnweoto.
In his testimony, Cosby de-
scribed sexual encounters with
a string of actresses, models and
other young women and talked
about obtaining quaaludes to give
to those he wanted to sleep with.
Cosby’s first trial in 2017 ended
with a hung jury. He was convicted
at a retrial that opened months after
the #MeToo movement had taken
down such figures as Hollywood
studio boss Harvey Weinstein,
NBC’s Matt Lauer, actor Kevin
Spacey and Sen. Al Franken.
Constand said Cosby gave her
what she thought were herbal pills
to ease stress, then penetrated her
with his fingers as she lay immo-
bilized on a couch. Cosby claimed
the encounter was consensual, and
his lawyers branded her a “con
artist” who framed the comedian
to get a big payday — a $3.4 mil-
lion settlement she received over a
decade ago.
Five other accusers testified
at the trial as part of an effort by
prosecutors to portray him as a
predator.
Cosby, whose estimated for-
tune once topped $400 million,
broke barriers in the 1960s as the
first black actor to star in a net-
work show, “I Spy.” He went on
to superstardom as wise and un-
derstanding Dr. Cliff Huxtable
on “The Cosby Show,” a sitcom
that showed America a new kind
of black TV family: a warm and
loving household led by two pro-
fessionals, one a lawyer, the other
a doctor.
Portland Trail Blazer and three-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard
will once again interact with fans when the Portland Trail Blazers
host a free fan night on Sunday, Sept. 30. (Photo from NBA.com)
Blazers to Host Fans
Preseason
showcase has
new start time
The preseason showcase that
Portland Trail Blazers fans eager-
ly await is back with a new, later
7 p.m. start time. The 14th an-
nual Blazers Fan Fest presented
by Wells Fargo is set for Sunday,
Sept. 30 at the Moda Center fea-
turing new entertainment and fan
engagement in the arena’s lower
bowl, alongside a first-look scrim-
mage by the new 2018-19 Trail
Blazers roster.
The free event features first-
come, first-served general admis-
sion seating, with doors opening
at 6 p.m. Special front-row seating
in select courtside areas will be
reserved for kids from communi-
ty-based organizations. Parking on
the Rose Quarter campus will be
free, subject to space availability.
Fans can download their free
digital tickets online at trailblazers.
com/fanfest.
The scrimmage will include
four quarters of competitive, in-
tra-squad NBA action. Three-time
All-Star and All-NBA point guard
Damian Lillard returns for his
seventh season with teammates
CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic and
more. Fans will get to interact
with the Trail Blazers television
and radio broadcast teams in-
cluding Kevin Calabro, Lamar
Hurd, Brooke Olzendam, Jordan
Kent, Brian Wheeler and Michael
Holton as they interview players
and coaches on the new endzone
entertainment stage.
Fans will also see performanc-
es by this year’s BlazerDancers
and Stunt Team; and have loads
of chances at free prizes and other
giveaways from team mascot Blaze
the Trail Cat.