Celebrity comedian, Bill Cosby, has been sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison for sexual assault by Judge Steven O’Neill.

Consequently, Cosby was categorised as a sexually violent predator. This means that the comedian must must undergo counselling for life and be listed on the sexual offender registry, BBC reports,

He was also reported to have declined to make a statement when a judge gave him the opportunity.

The 81-year-old star of The Cosby Show was found guilty in April of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.

The court in Norristown, Pennsylvania, has scheduled two days for the sentencing, to give witnesses the opportunity to speak before the judge. However, Cosby’s lawyers said he will appeal the conviction, which observers say could push the case up to Pennsylvania’s highest court and take several years.

More than 50 women have come forward to publicly accuse Cosby of sexual assault spanning several decades.

But Cosby’s conviction on three counts of aggravated indecent assault refers solely to accusations from Constand, a former employee at Temple University in Philadelphia, Cosby’s alma mater.