Bill Cosby released from prison: Sexual assault conviction overturned

Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby is officially a free man. More than two years ago Bill Cosby was cuffed and sent to prison. His fall from grace as America's favorite TV dad broadcast across the world. Now he's free. 

On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania supreme court overturned the 83-year-old's 2018 conviction. The Pennsylvania supreme court ruled that Cosby has been denied a fair trial in 2018. 

The judges reportedly said that a "non-prosecution agreement" made with a previous district attorney meant that cosby should not have been charged. 

The decision was made after serving more than two years of a potential three-to-10-year prison sentence at a maximum-security facility in Pennsylvania. 

Cosby was arrested in 2015 on charges of drugging and sexually assaulting Temple University sports administrator Andrea Constand at his Philadelphia home in 2004. 

At the end of the trial in April 2018, a jury convicted Cosby of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Constand. He was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era. 

Andrea Constand

She initially reported the assault in 2005, a year after it happened. 

That delay is part of why a U.S. district attorney released a public statement saying he wouldn't charge Cosby criminally. So Constand pursued a civil case in which Cosby had to testify. 

In his deposition, Cosby said he had offered drugs to women he wanted to have sex with. When this comments were made public a new district attorney decided to charge him. Judges in Pennsylvania's supreme court now says it was unfair. 

In a statement, Constand called the decision disappointing and said she's concerned this could discourage other women from seeking justice. 

Today's decision also means Cosby can't be tried for this particular case again. But there are dozens of other women who claim he's guilty of more.

The comedian and actor was best known for his role as the lovable husband and father in the 1980s television comedy series "The Cosby Show," earning him the nickname "America's Dad."  But his family-friendly reputation was shattered after dozens of women accused him of sexual assault over a period of decades.