Cosby will never be free of shame
THE sight of gloating Bill Cosby walking free from prison flashing the victory sign as he returned to his multi-milliondollar home was sickening to see.
Released early from a three to 10-year stretch for sexual assault – on a technicality – it was easy to imagine the thoughts of the scores of women who accused him of similar crimes.
The irony of his freedom was not lost on anyone coming on the same day Britney Spears lost her latest legal challenge to free herself from a man’s control.
We could never imagine a 39-year-old male celebrity being deemed fit enough to work but not fit enough to make decisions about his birth control choices.
Unfortunately, however, the conservatorship upon America’s pop princess, controlled by her father, does just that.
No man has taken pride in how Cosby, a convicted sexual predator, has been granted his liberty.
Over many years, the comedic actor who made millions from the 80s sitcom The Cosby Show playing of all things a trusted doctor, drugged young women who had looked up to him.
But after a court ruled a prosecutor’s 2005 decision not to pursue a criminal case against him was wrong, he is now a free man – one who undoubtedly will never see the inside of a prison cell again.
The decision reinforced the widespread belief that a wealthy man in possession of an expensive lawyer can get away with anything.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court may have sprung Cosby – known in the States as “America’s dad” – from a concrete jail but neither it nor anyone else can release him from the prison of disgrace. Not only did he betray the trust of a young woman he was convicted of drugging and sexually attacking but he broke faith with untold millions who held him up as a hero of fatherhood, a fictional character kids often dreamed of having as a real parent.
Mums and dads even strove to emulate his TV role in real life.
But overriding of all in regards to his release is the incalculable damage that it has inflicted upon other sexual assault victims, not just in the States but in Europe and elsewhere too, who may now be hesitant to step forward.
There is a reason why the dozens of women who accused Cosby of misconduct took years to come forward.
There is a reason more than two out of three sexual assaults are estimated to go unreported.
Sexual assault victims often fail to come forward out of fear and shamefully because they don’t expect to be believed or taken seriously by the law. It is easy to see why.
According to America’s Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, more than 97% of perpetrators never face justice.
Some even go on to have Hollywood careers like Harvey Weinstein.
Cosby admitted in court proceedings he had given the sedative drug Quaaludes to women to have sex.
His crimes were monstrous and no ruling can ever erase his culpability.
After all, more than 60 women have accused him of rape or sexual harassment.
Cosby no longer lives in prison but he will always live in shame. American “justice” even more so.
His release has inflicted incalculable damage on other victims