Bill Cosby has been moved to the general population area of a Pennsylvania prison as he serves up to 10 years in prison for sexual assault. Since his time in prison, he has not received a single visit from his family.
Since last September, the 81-year-old actor has been in special housing at SCI Phoenix in suburban Philadelphia, about 20 miles from his home in Cheltenham. However, during that time, neither his wife, Camille, or their three daughters have visited him.
Bill Cosby, 81, moved to general unit at Pennsylvania prison https://t.co/BHDjn8u9JA pic.twitter.com/A7f4xWtQpp
— CTV News (@CTVNews) February 7, 2019
His spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, told The Associated Press that Cosby doesn’t expect his family to visit him.
“He doesn’t want to have them in that environment,” Wyatt said. “Why put them in that position, to make it turn into some form of circus?”
Cosby is serving a three to 10 year sentence for drugging and abusing Andrea Constand in 2004. While Cosby admitted to giving Constand Benedryl, he has argued everything following was consensual. Constand, on the other hand, said Cosby took advantage of her after drugging her.
“I was completely vulnerable and powerless to protect myself,” she said in a statement. “After the assault, I wasn’t sure what had actually happened but the pain spoke volumes.
“The shame was overwhelming. Self-doubt and confusion kept me from turning to my family or friends as I normally did,” she said. “I felt completely alone, unable to trust anyone, including myself.”
#AndreaConstrand thank you ❤ pic.twitter.com/4T89GMcCWF
— ????Shadira Anastatia Natasha Monsanto Williams????⚕ (@MsMonsanto) September 25, 2018
Aside from Constand, dozens of women have also accused Cosby of sexual assault or misconduct over the span of 50 years, including five who testified at his trial last year, according to Fox News.
Cosby’s wife, Camille, notably stayed away from her husband’s two highly publicized trials, making only one brief appearance at each. Last year, she filed an ethics complaint against the trial judge, accusing him of bias.
Wyatt told AP that Camille continues to strategize on her husband’s behalf behind the scenes.
On Sept. 25, Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill sentenced Cosby to three to 10 years in state prison.
Cosby believes he’s a “political prisoner” and is being targeted for his social and political views, like Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, according to Wyatt.
“He said, ‘They want to entrap me and say I’m remorseful, or to say I did something I didn’t do. I’m not going to fall for it,'” Wyatt said, via Page Six.
Last week when Cosby was moved into general population, he was placed in a single cell unit reserved for veterans, Wyatt said. Previously, Cosby had been in a private cell and a day room near the infirmary.
State prison spokeswoman Amy Worden told AP that inmates there can spend several hours a day in the gym or exercise yard. There is also a library, class or day room. She also said given his age and disability, the legally blind Cosby has other inmates assigned to him at all times.
According to Wyatt, Cosby gets up before dawn to do leg lifts and crunches in his cell. Cosby has also been working on creative projects.
“He hasn’t stopped thinking about the things that he’s going to do when he gets out,” Wyatt told Page Six.
Cosby, a Philadelphia native, rose to fame in the 1960s as the first black actor to star in a prime-time television drama with the hit show, “I Spy.” Through the years he became known as “America’s Dad” for his portrayal of family man Cliff Huxtable on the top-rated “Cosby Show” from 1984 to 1992.
