MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Bill Cosby should be considered a “sexually violent predator,” according to a recommendation by Pennsylvania’s sexual offender assessment board.
The classification would require Cosby to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and undergo treatment, according to a Philly.com report.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele cited the board’s assessment and asked Judge Steven T. O’Neill to set a hearing to determine whether the 81-year-old entertainer will get the designation.
Cosby was found guilty in April of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand. The trial included testimony from five other women who accused Cosby of sexual misconduct.
Cosby is set to be sentenced in September.
Under state law, a sexually violent predator is a person who has “a mental abnormality or personality disorder the makes the person likely to engage in predatory sexually violent offenses.”
In Pennsylvania, the assessment board issues a recommendation on whether someone should be designated a sexually violent predator, but a judge can accept or reject that recommendation. Cosby would be permitted under state law to have his own expert perform an assessment and testify at the hearing about whether he should be considered a sexually violent predator.
If Cosby receives that designation, he will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and participate in counseling or treatment at least once a month.
Cosby has been on house arrest at his home since being convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault in April.
