Russell Brand faces sentencing Monday after rape conviction

British comedian and actor Russell Brand is being sentenced Monday at Southwark Crown Court in London, after a jury convicted him last week of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women, The Associated Press reported.

Judge Joel Bennathan said when the verdicts were delivered on Thursday, Nov. 5, that Brand would receive a prison term. Brand, 51, was taken into custody that day. The allegations date back more than 20 years.

The jury of eight men and four women deliberated more than eight hours over two days. Brand was acquitted of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault. A prosecutor called him a ruthless, calculating and manipulative “sexual predator.”

Brand denied the charges. He testified that he had been obsessed with sex as a young man and led a promiscuous life, but had never forced anyone to do something against their will. His lawyers argued that the women went to police only years later, after a 2023 documentary aired anonymous allegations against him.

In England and Wales, rape carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Sentencing Council guidelines usually put the range at four to 19 years, and the maximum for sexual assault is 10 years. London’s Metropolitan Police have said investigations into two further rape allegations against Brand are continuing.

Brand rose to fame in the early 2000s on British television and radio, appeared in films including Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek, and was briefly married to singer Katy Perry. In recent years he moved to Florida and built a large online following.

This story will be updated with the sentence.