Why was Bill Cosby denied parole? Disgraced comedian refused to take sex offender therapy
Bill Cosby was denied parole on Thursday, May 27, after refusing to complete a sex offender therapy program. The incarcerated sex abuser, who was sentenced to ten years in prison for aggravated indecent assault, was denied parole on May 11, according to a Pennsylvania parole board spokesperson.
The decision, which was made on May 11 and first reported on May 27 by investigative journalist Nicole Weisense, and later confirmed by Laura Treaster, a spokeswoman for the state parole board. Cosby, 83, has already served more than two years of his three-to-ten-year prison sentence for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, whom he met through his alma mater's basketball program.
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On May 11, the disgraced actor and comedian had a parole hearing. Cosby had been found guilty of assaulting Constand in Philadelphia in 2004 and of drugging the victim and several other women in 2018.
Bill Cosby denied parole?
The Pennsylvania parole board has decided that Cosby had not yet met the criteria for release. According to the board, Cosby had failed to "develop a parole release plan" and must "participate in and complete additional institutional programs," reported Fox News. He also received a "negative recommendation" from the Department of Corrections. The board will review and consider whether he "successfully participated in/completed a treatment program for sex offenders and violence prevention" at his next parole hearing.
The news that Cosby's parole has been "denied" by the Pennsylvania State Parole Board is "not a surprise to Mr. Cosby, his family, his friends, and/or his legal team," according to a statement obtained by Fox News on May 27. "It was brought to our attention by Mr. Cosby that over the past months, members of the PA State Parole Board had met with him and empathically stated, ‘if he did not participate in SVP [Sexual Violate Predator] courses that his parole would be denied,’" the statement read.
Hopeful for new trial
"Mr. Cosby has vehemently proclaimed his innocence and continues to deny all allegations made against him, as being false, without the sheer evidence of any proof," said the statement, adding that, "today, Mr. Cosby continues to remain hopeful that the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court will issue an opinion to vacate his conviction or warrant him a new trial."
“We knew he was going to be rejected. He called me and told me that if he didn’t take the course, he would be denied. He has maintained his innocence from the beginning," said Andrew Wyatt, a spokesman for Cosby. The state correctional institution in Phoenix, a suburb of Philadelphia, has been housing the once-popular comedian known as "America's Dad."
'Cool as a cucumber'
Cosby will not be considered for parole again, according to the state parole board spokesperson, Laura Treaster, unless he completes the violent sexual predator therapy. He must also overcome a state Department of Corrections recommendation against parole and maintain a clean criminal record. Cosby was also told that he needed to create a "parole release plan." She claimed that the reasons for the corrections department's negative recommendation, as well as Cosby's prison conduct record, are not public. Cosby is doing as well as can be expected in prison, according to his spokesperson Wyatt. “He’s hopeful,” Wyatt said of the Supreme Court appeal according to the Guardian. “He’s cool as a cucumber.”