Washington, Sep 26

Bill Cosby was sentenced Tuesday by a court in Norristown, Pennsylvania, to a minimum of three years in state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill handed down the sentence of 3-10 years a few hours after accepting the recommendation of a state panel to classify the 81-year-old comedian as a "sexually violent predator", Efe reported.

Cosby was led handcuffed from the courtroom by police after the judge refused to release him on bail during pending appeals.

The sexual predator designation implies that Cosby will be included in sex-offender registries that are sent to schools and that must submit to regular therapy sessions for the rest of his life.

The trial charged Cosby with sexual aggression against Andrea Constand in 2004.

The comedian met Constand in 2001 when she was working as an administrator with the Temple University women's basketball team and Cosby, the school's most famous alumnus, sat on the Philadelphia institution's board of trustees.

Constand, now 45, said that during an early 2004 visit to Cosby's mansion in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, he drugged her and penetrated her with his fingers while she was immobilized by the effect of the drug.

Though the maximum sentence he could have received was 30 years behind bars, the judge himself asked for a prison sentence of 5-10 years.

More than 60 women have accused Bill Cosby of sexually abusing them between 1960-2000, but those alleged offences could not be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations.

According to the plea entered by the prosecution, Cosby remains a risk to women, an argument used to request that he be deprived of his freedom and which was accepted by the judge.

For its part, the defence had portrayed Cosby as a disabled old man who posed no threat to society, and introduced Tuesday the testimony of a psychologist who supported his attorney's plea that he be released.

Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman nearly 15 years ago.

Once dubbed â€˜America's Dad,â€™ comedian Cosby, 81, has been labeled a â€˜sexually violent predatorâ€™ by a US court, implying that he must undergo counseling for life and appear on the sex offenders' registry.

The Pennsylvania judge made the ruling ahead of sentencing the comedian for drugging and molesting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004, reports bbc.com.

At a retrial in April, Cosby was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault against Andrea Constand.

The classification by court means he will need to register with state police and notify any community he lives in of his sex offender status, as well as undergo mandatory counseling for life. Neighbors, childcare centers and schools will have to be notified of his whereabouts.

The actor's defense team had argued the state's sex offender law was too severe given Cosby's age, as well as the fact that he is legally blind.

The two-day hearing at Montgomery County Courthouse in Pennsylvania began on Monday.

Psychologist Kristen Dudley testified on Monday that Cosby showed signs of a mental disorder and was likely to reoffend.

Apart from the label, Cosby still faces a maximum prison term of 10 years after an agreement between prosecutors and his defence team, but there is no mandatory minimum for the convictions.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele called for five to 10 years in jail for aggravated indecent assault.

Cosby's defence is pushing instead for house arrest, according to bbc.com.

In June 2017, Constand described how Cosby, whom she viewed as a â€˜mentorâ€™, gave her pills that left her â€˜frozenâ€™ and unable to stop his assault.

The comedian was arrested in 2015 and a deadlocked jury resulted in a mistrial in June 2017.

This year's retrial occurred amid the #MeToo movement that has seen people worldwide come forward to share stories of sexual harassment and assault.

Bill Cosby sentenced to 3 to 10 years in state prison