Stevie Wonder on Bill Cosby: “I just pray that God will give him the mercy”

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Larry Busacca/WireImage for Songwriter’s Hall of FameFollowing the news of Bill Cosby‘s prison sentence, Stevie Wonder is offering his prayers to the iconic entertainer.

“I respect the work that he’s done in his career as an artist. He’s found a lot of people and I just pray that God will give him the mercy,” Wonder tells TMZ.  But, the Motown legend added, “Every woman should be protected.”

Wonder appeared on The Cosby Show in an 1986 episode titledA Touch of Wonder.” In the show, Denise Huxtable, played by Lisa Bonet, had a fender bender with Stevie’s chauffeured limousine. Stevie eventually comes to the Huxtable home, and performs his Oscar-winning song “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”

On Tuesday, Cosby was declared a “violent sex offender” and sentenced to three-to-10 years in prison after being found guilty in April of three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault. He is now incarcerated at the maximum security Pennsylvania State Correction Institution at Phoenix, located in Skippack Township, Pennsylvania.

Judge Steven T. O’Neill denied bail for Cosby during sentencing, meaning that the 81-year-old comic and entertainer will remain incarcerated while his attorneys work on his appeal.

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