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Comedian Russell Brand, once one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters and briefly a motion picture star, was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison on Monday after being convicted for rape and three sexual assaults.
Brand stood in the dock at London’s Southwark Crown Court as Judge Joel Bennathan sentenced him, describing Brand as a predator who believed “fame meant you could act how you liked, when you liked.”
Earlier, one of Brand’s victims, whom Brand anally raped in 2009, said in a statement read by prosecutors that the trauma of the attack was “something I carry with me every day and it often feels never-ending.”
Brand was sentenced to nine years in prison for the rape and a total of 35 months for three sexual assaults, with those sentences to run concurrently, the judge said. Bennathan said Brand would be required to serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody before being released on licence with strict conditions.
Comedian and actor-turned-influencer Russell Brand was found guilty Thursday of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. Brand, who was acquitted on three other charges, is also being investigated over rape allegations made by two other women.
Brand was acquitted of several other charges in last week’s verdicts, with the alleged incidents overall taking place between 1999 and 2009. He denied all the charges.
Brand rose to prominence in the late 1990s in Britain as a stand-up comedian, broadening his audience with a string of hosting assignments on shows on MTV, BBC and Channel Four, as well as publishing a best-selling book in 2007.
He then found success in Hollywood with the movie comedies Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him To the Greek and Arthur, while engaging in a brief relationship that included marriage with Katy Perry.
He was supported at trial by his wife of nine years, Laura.
