Verdicts against Bill Cosby can bring change for assault victims

At one time, it would have been almost unthinkable that a man like Bill Cosby would be convicted of sexual assault. Men like him almost always got away with it. So the verdict delivered Thursday in a Pennsylvania courtroom — guilty, guilty, guilty — was a watershed. Because it signaled that rich, powerful, famous men can be held accountable for their predatory behavior toward women.

In finding that Cosby in 2004 drugged and sexually assaulted a young woman he had mentored, the jury rejected his attorney’s efforts to further victimize accuser Andrea Constand as a gold digger. It ignored his attempt to besmirch other women who testified against Cosby as being promiscuous or publicity-seekers.

Coming forward against someone like Cosby always has been risky for someone like Constand. He was a beloved TV icon who hid behind his veneer as “America’s dad” while some 60 women said he incapacitated them with drugs and sexually abused them. Constand was a worker at Temple University, and reviled by Cosby’s supporters. But in the second trial on her charges, the jury believed her, not him.

The verdict came after a flood of allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein launched the #MeToo movement. It came after the election of President Donald Trump, who boasted about grabbing women’s genitals and has been accused by several women of violating their bodies. It came after dozens of other women implicated Cosby, and hundreds more credibly accused men like him.

We hope the verdict is a turning point. We hope more women will find the courage to come forward with their stories. We hope more law enforcement officials will be emboldened to thoroughly investigate and that more prosecutors are not afraid to bring charges. And, in the end, that more offenders will be brought to justice.