Russell Brand jailed for 10 1/2 years for rape, assaults

A London judge sentenced Russell Brand on Monday, November 9, to 10 and a half years in prison for raping a woman in 2009 and sexually assaulting three others, CBS News reported. The sentence was handed down at Southwark Crown Court four days after a jury convicted the 51-year-old comedian and actor.cbsnews.com

Brand, a former husband of pop singer Katy Perry who later recast himself as an anti-establishment commentator, was found guilty on November 5 of one count of rape and three of sexual assault, all committed between 2004 and 2009, according to Reuters. The jury acquitted him of two other rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault. Before the verdicts, Mr Justice Joel Bennathan had told him to expect "a significant custodial term," and Brand had been held on remand since then, the BBC reported.reuters.com+1

Victims describe lasting harm

The court heard victim impact statements before the sentence was announced. One woman read hers in person from behind a screen. She told the court, "I've been in shock and turmoil for years," and said she felt like "damaged goods," the BBC reported. In another statement, a second victim called Brand "a sexual predator who has no remorse." The woman he raped in 2009 said she was "living with trauma" and had feared she had contracted HIV.bbc.com

The woman who spoke in court said that as Brand's career took off, it was "impossible to escape seeing him all over the media, being celebrated for his disgusting behavior against women like it was all a joke," the Associated Press reported. Under British law, all four women have lifelong anonymity.apnews.com

Defense argued he had changed

Brand's barrister, Ian Winter KC, said his client was a "fundamentally different person today" and described the rape as a "momentary total failure to respect [the woman's] consent," CBS News reported. Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC asked the judge to place the rape in the highest category of the sentencing guidelines. At trial she had called Brand a "sexual predator" who treated women as a "disposable commodity," according to the AP.cbsnews.com+1

A fall from fame

The women came forward after a 2023 investigation by The Times and Channel 4 aired allegations of abuse, the AP reported. Brand denied every charge. He said the claims were part of a coordinated attack on him because of his profile as a wellness influencer and political commentator, CBS News noted.apnews.com+1

His legal troubles are not over. London's Metropolitan Police says Brand is under investigation over two more alleged rapes, one involving a girl who was 16 at the time, Reuters reported. The force's head said he "wouldn't be surprised if many more came forward."reuters.com