Bill Cosby conviction, sentencing will make sexual-assault survivors feel 'safer' to speak out, accuser says originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
The conviction and sentencing of disgraced TV icon Bill Cosby will give hope to sexual-assault survivors and empower them to speak out, one of the dozens of women who have accused him of sexual assault said.
"I
think victims feel that there is a chance and there's an opportunity
and it's safer to go out and actually expose the situation, and that's
huge. It's important," Lise-Lotte Lublin told ABC News' chief anchor
George Stephanopoulos in an interview Wednesday on "Good Morning
America."
"At
some point, you have to feel like it's going to be OK to say something
and you're not going to be hit with backlash," she added.
PHOTO: Lise-Lotte Lublin and Gloria Alred appear on 'Good Morning America,' Sept. 26, 2018, in New York City. (ABC News)
A
Pennsylvania judge Tuesday sentenced Cosby to three to 10 years in
state prison, and then denied him bail during pending appeals, for
drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand 14 years ago.
Lublin
was among five "prior bad act" witnesses who testified at the criminal
trial that Cosby had allegedly incapacitated and then sexually assaulted
them, too.
"I
understand from some of the jurors that the testimony of other
accusers, like Lise, was important in the ultimate decision to convict,"
attorney Gloria Allred, who represents Lublin and other accusers of
Cosby, said on "GMA" Wednesday.
Montgomery
County Judge Steven O'Neill also ordered Cosby to be designated a
"sexually violent predator," which means the 81-year-old comedian will
be required by law to register as a sex offender for the rest of his
life and be subject to the most stringent requirements a sex offender
can incur. Cosby was taken into custody immediately and escorted out of
the courtroom in Norristown, Pennsylvanian, in handcuffs.
"Not
only do I think it's appropriate but that means he's going to be
required to have lifetime counseling, there's going to be more
notification to the community,” Allred said. “And I am concerned that he
will be released at some point, potentially even in three years. I'm
concerned about protection of women, and we never want this to happen
again."
PHOTO:
Bill Cosby is taken away in handcuffs after being sentenced to 3-10
years in his sexual assault retrial at the Montgomery County Courthouse
on Sept. 25, 2018 in Norristown, Pa. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)
O'Neill
had asked defense attorney Joseph Green whether Cosby wanted to make a
statement before he is sentenced, and Cosby declined.
Later
Tuesday, Cosby's spokesman Andrew Wyatt lambasted the trial and
conviction as "the most racist and sexist trial in the history of the
United States." He said Cosby "is doing great" and "knows that God is
watching over him."
"They
persecuted Jesus and look what happened," Wyatt said. "I'm not saying
Mr. Cosby is Jesus, but we know what this country has done to black men
for centuries."
Cosby's
wife of 54 years, Camille Cosby, was not in court Tuesday but released a
statement after the sentencing, saying, "We have now learned that Bill
Cosby was denied his right to a fair trial because the district attorney
used falsified evidence against him."
During
Wednesday's interview on "GMA," Montgomery County Special Assistant
District Attorney Stewart Ryan said the defense team's claims are a
"last-ditch effort to cook up an appeal" and are intended to "distract
from the facts."
"Bill
Cosby is a convicted felon, he was declared to be a sexually violent
predator and now he's an inmate in a state penitentiary," Ryan said.
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