Bill Cosby to R Kelly: Celebrities who were found guilty of sex crimes

Behind its glitzy and glamorous surface, the Hollywood film industry has seen a fair share of scandals. Through the years the skeletons have come tumbling out of the closets but none have been as shocking as the sex crimes involving some of the biggest names in the business. While not all accused have been brought to trial, several public figures over the past years have received guilty verdicts for their predatory behaviour.

Jurors at a civil trial found Bill Cosby guilty of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975. The Los Angeles County jury delivered the verdict in favour of Judy Huth, who is now 64, and awarded her $500,000. Jurors found that Cosby intentionally caused harmful sexual contact with Huth, that he reasonably believed she was under 18, and that his conduct was driven by unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in a minor.

The jurors' decision is a major legal defeat for the 84-year-old entertainer once hailed as America's dad. It comes nearly a year after his Pennsylvania criminal conviction for sexual assault was thrown out and he was freed from prison. Huth's lawsuit was one of the last remaining legal claims against him after his insurer settled many others against his will.

'R&B' star R Kelly was sentenced to a 30-year jail on Wednesday for leveraging his fame to repeatedly sexually assault young followers, some of whom were just children. According to a report on AP, the singer was found guilty of racketeering and eight charges of breaking the Mann Act, which forbids moving persons between states for prostitution. 45 witnesses testified for the government, and Kelly has been imprisoned since July 2019. He is still facing accusations in Chicago of child pornography and obstructing the course of justice. The six-week trial revealed how Kelly used workers and intermediaries to entice fans and aspiring singers into sexually abusive and controlling conditions, including locking them in rooms without food or access to a bathroom for days. Kelly was found guilty of all nine counts against him.

Former 'Drake & Josh' star Drake Bell was sentenced to two years of probation after he pleaded guilty to felony attempted child endangerment and a misdemeanour charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. The actor was accused of sending inappropriate text messages to the victim in 2017, ahead of a scheduled concert in Cleveland, Ohio."I accept this plea because my conduct was wrong," Bell said, according to an Associated Press report. "I'm sorry the victim was harmed. It was not my intention."

As part of his sentence, Bell cannot have any contact with the victim. His case will also be referred to the California probation department where they will determine whether he will need to register as a sex offender.

Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault against two women, sealing his dizzying fall from powerful Hollywood studio boss to archvillain of the #MeToo movement. Weinstein later appealed to a court claiming that the judge at his landmark trial 'unfairly' allowed women to testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. In June 2022, a New York appeals court on upheld his rape conviction and 23-year prison sentence. The ruling by a five-judge panel in the state’s intermediate appeals court affirmed one of the highest-profile verdicts to date in America’s reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful figures.

Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski was charged with having unlawful intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in 1977 after he allegedly drugged and raped her during a photo shoot. Although the director denied the charges, he later pleaded guilty and underwent psychiatric treatment along with spending 42 days in jail. Polanski, however, never completed his jail time as he fled the United States, sparking a 4-decade long court battle. While promoting his film at the 2018 Zurich Film Festival, the director referred to the incident and his trial and told The Hollywood Reporter that "it's over" now.