Bill Cosby will not be released from prison after the 83-year old actor, who is currently serving 3 to 10 years in Pennsylvania state prison after he was convicted of sexual assault in 2018, was denied parole three years into his sentence.
Pennsylvania State Parole Board declined Bill Cosbys request for parole on 11th May largely due to the need to participate in a treatment program for sex offenders and violence prevention, and failure to develop a parole release plan, according to a state board action letter provided to USA TODAY. There was also a negative recommendation from the Department of Corrections.
The 83-year-old has long indicated that he would resist the treatment programs and refuse to acknowledge wrongdoing even if it means serve the entire term of the sentence. Since 2018, this is the first year he was eligible for parole under the 3 to 10 years sentence handed down.
Reacting to the refusal by the Board to grant parole, Andrew Wyatt, Cosbys spokesperson, called the decision appalling and said Cosby vehemently proclaims his innocence.
Meanwhile, Cosby hopes the state Supreme Court, which heard his appeal, will reverse the conviction in the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era.
Cosbys lawyers say the trial was essentially flawed because five other accusers were allowed to testify to support the sexual assault complaint filed by a former Temple University basket team manager. They also said the judge should not have allowed the jury hear Cosbys damaging testimony from his accuser, Andrea Constand.
Cosby is serving his at SCI-Phoenix in Montgomery Country. Cosby met the victim at Temple University where Cosby served on the Board of Trustees and was a frequent celebrity visitor on campus. In the wake of the decision, the victim posted a tweet on Twitter, DENIED.
Cosby starred in The Cosby Show, a top-ranked sitcom which began on television from 1984 to 1992. He broke racial barriers in Hollywood in the 1960s.
