Russell Brand sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for rape and sexual assault

Comedian Russell Brand was sentenced Monday in the United Kingdom to 10 and a half years in prison for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. 

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Joel Bennathan said that Brand showed a "casual and arrogant disregard" for women denying him consent, the Associated Press reported. 

In the course of his rise to stardom, Bennathan said, Brand became a "sexual predator." 

Brand has insisted that the sexual encounters were consensual, but a jury of eight men and four women found him guilty of the allegations, which date back to 2004. He was cleared of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.