Academy expels Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski

Andrea Mandell | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski expelled from Academy of Motion Pictures The organization removed the two for violating its code of conduct. Alicia Powell reports.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has expelled Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski from its membership, the governing film group announced Thursday.

"The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors met on Tuesday night and has voted to expel actor Bill Cosby and director Roman Polanski from its membership in accordance with the organization's Standards of Conduct," reads a statement issued by the Academy. "The Board continues to encourage ethical standards that require members to uphold the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity."

Cosby was found guilty last week on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault and could be sentenced to 10 years in prison for each, stemming from an encounter with former Temple University administrator Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in January 2004.

Bill Cosby accusers: 'Justice is served!' Bill Cosby was found guilty on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault on Thursday. One victim Cosby said the conviction is a "victory for womanhood and sexual assault survivors."

Constand said he drugged and molested her. Cosby said it was a consensual encounter and he gave her an over-the-counter allergy medication. He is currently confined to his home in suburban Philadelphia awaiting a pre-sentencing assessment.

More: Bill Cosby retrial judge weighs whether to make jurors' names public

Also: Camille Cosby lashes out at accusers, media and 'mob justice' defending her husband

Polanski, a best director Oscar winner in 2003 for The Pianist, pled guilty to statutory rape in a plea bargain in the late '70s and has since attempted to resolve the decades-old case.

In 1977 Polanski had sex with a 13-year-old girl after giving her champagne and a sedative, which is statutory rape. He was arrested, spent time in jail, then pleaded guilty in a plea bargain. He fled the country in 1978 after becoming convinced the judge in the case, now deceased, planned to sentence him to a lengthy prison term.

The accuser, now in her 50s, says she's forgiven Polanski and thinks the case should end, but the Oscar-winning director remains a fugitive. He is unable to return to the U.S. without being jailed for rape and fleeing justice, under an order issued by a Los Angeles judge in April.

The Academy, the organization that awards the Oscars, formalized new procedures for evaluating its membership earlier this year in the wake of the sexual harassment allegations sweeping Hollywood.

A new wave of universities and groups began yanking honors from Cosby this week. Yale rescinded an honorary degree it awarded Bill Cosby in 2003, as did the State University of New York. The Television Academy confirmed to USA TODAY Wednesday that Cosby's status in its Hall of Fame is under review in the wake of his criminal conviction.

More: After a guilty verdict, what happens next for Bill Cosby?

Also: Bill Cosby on house arrest, to be sentenced in 75 days

And Friday, the day after the verdict, Cosby's alma mater, Temple University in Philadelphia, also revoked the honorary degree it bestowed on him. Cosby, who earned a bachelor degree from Temple in 1971, was a member of its board of trustees for 32 years until he resigned under fire in December 2014.

Even before the verdict, scores of colleges and universities around the country had revoked honorary degrees or scrubbed Cosby's name from buildings and scholarships, beginning in October 2014 when dozens of women began going public with allegations that Cosby drugged and/or raped them in episodes dating back to the mid-1960s.

All of these allegations were too old to prosecute; only Constand's allegations were pursued in criminal court thanks to Pennsylvania's unusually lengthy statute of limitations.

Contributing: Maria Puente