Famous
people aren’t immune to being convicted of sex crimes and punished accordingly
under the law, though not all infamous sex crimes end with convictions.
Bill
Cosby
He was born
on July 12, 1937, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and author. Camille
Hanks is the wife of Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
was one of the celebrities exposed. Dozens of women have accused the performer
of drugging and assaulting them over the years.
Bill Cosby
was convicted by a jury in April 2018 of three counts of sexual assault. He was
ultimately sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Though
Cosby was accused of sexual assault by dozens of women, only one filed criminal
charges.
Cosby’s case
concerned an alleged sexual assault in 2004 of Andrea Constand, who was on the
athletics staff of Temple University in Philadelphia. That’s where Cosby lived
in retirement from show business, after decades of popularity as a standup
comedian and actor including the long-running sitcom hit The Cosby Show.
Dozens of
women had accused Cosby of sexual assault, often from many years earlier, but
Constand was the only one who brought criminal charges. Cosby will appeal the
conviction, but he could face three 10-year prison sentences, which could be
served concurrently.
He was born
on born 19 February 1960, is a member of the British royal family. The third
child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh, he is ninth in the line of succession to the British throne.
Andrew has
been accused of child sexual abuse by Virginia Giuffre, who alleges that as a
minor she was sex trafficked to him by American financier and convicted sex
offender Jeffrey Epstein, which Andrew has categorically denied. Following
intense negative reaction to his association with Epstein, he permanently
resigned from public roles in May 2020, and his honorary military affiliations
and royal charitable patronages were returned to the Queen in January 2022. He
was the defendant in a civil lawsuit over sexual assault filed by Giuffre in
the State of New York, which was settled out of court in February 2022.
Woody
Allen
He was born
on November 30, 1935, is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian
whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning
films.
Woody Allen
has been suspected of having sexual relations with minors since 1992, when
Allen was found with nude photos of his partner Mia Farrow's 20-year-old
adopted daughter, Soon-Yi. Allen and Soon-Yi were married in 1997. In 2014, Allen's
adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, accused Allen of sexual assault. The
accusations were examined in depth in the 2021 documentary Allen v. Farrow.
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Allen has
never been convicted of a crime in this case, although the judge in the 1993
custody case found his behavior “grossly inappropriate.” Many actors have
stepped up to support Dylan and have refused to work with him again, but Allen
still has his supporters.
R. Kelly
He was born
on January 8, 1967, is an American convicted sex offender and former singer,
songwriter, and record producer.
Throughout
his career, Kelly has been repeatedly accused of sexual abuse with young adults
and minors. He faced multiple civil suits and was indicted by criminal courts
in Chicago, New York, Illinois, and Minnesota. He repeatedly denied the
charges. In 1994, he illegally married his underage protégé Aaliyah. In 2002,
he was indicted, tried, and eventually acquitted on 21 counts of making child
pornography. Kelly's own defense lawyer, Ed Genson, questioned the acquittal
and Kelly's public proclamations of innocence.
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R. Kelly was
charged with statutory rape and child pornography in 2002 after a video
surfaced that appeared to show Kelly having sex and urinating on an underage
girl. After several delays, Kelly was found not guilty in 2008.
In September 2021, R. Kelly was found guilty of racketeering, including acts of bribery and sexual exploitation of a child, along with separate sex trafficking charges.
