Bill Cosby moved to general population at Pennsylvania prison

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. — Comedian Bill Cosby has been moved to the general population at a Pennsylvania prison, where he’s serving out a three- to 10-year sentence for drugging and molesting a onetime friend in 2004.

Cosby, 81, was moved last week after spending about four months in special housing near the infirmary at the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

Cosby's spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, told CNN that the comedian once known as "America's Dad" was not in the prison's general population, "because that would be detrimental to his safety and security, due to his blindness." However, state prison spokeswoman Amy Worden told the news network that Wyatt "misunderstood what general population means" and confirmed Cosby was in a general population unit.

She added that the comedian was being "treated just the same as any other inmate," according to CNN.

Worden told the AP and CNN that it's not unusual for high-profile inmates to be placed in temporary, special housing for their own safety as prison officials determine how best to integrate them into the wider population.

Cosby has been jailed at SCI Phoenix since September 2018, after a jury found him guilty of drugging and molesting a woman in 2004. He was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault in what was heralded as the first celebrity conviction in the #MeToo era.

Dozens of women have made high-profile accusations that Cosby had drugged and assaulted them, but last year’s case was the only one to result in criminal charges against Cosby.

Cox Media Group