# Bill Cosby is finally being charged for sex crimes, it is about damn time **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 30, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735 "2015-12-30T17:15:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/1 "2015-12-30T17:15:20Z")
> **[Bill Cosby Charged in Sexual Assault Case (Published 2015)](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/31/business/media/bill-cosby-charged-in-sexual-assault-case.html)** > > The comedian, who has for decades been pursued by allegations of sexual misconduct, was charged with sexual assault in Pennsylvania in a case that many people, including women who had come forward, thought prosecutors would never bring. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/2 "2015-12-30T17:25:58Z")
Huh, I would have figured the statute of limitations would have been hit on an 11 year old crime. I’m not sure Cosby will go to jail either way since he’ll be 80 when he gets convicted maybe this will end up being a home arrest type situation. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/3 "2015-12-30T17:34:27Z")
I hope he gets therapy. If the accusations are true, he is a sick man. He could have afforded top of the line prostitutes. But chose to use drugs on his victims. Not very creative. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/4 "2015-12-30T17:40:50Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > I hope he gets therapy. If the accusations are true, he is a sick man. > > He could have afforded top of the line prostitutes. But chose to use drugs on his victims. Not very creative. I would guess he could get willing sex partners without even going to prostitutes. He was wealthy, funny, attractive and famous. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/5 "2015-12-30T17:44:15Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > I hope he gets therapy. If the accusations are true, he is a sick man. > > He could have afforded top of the line prostitutes. But chose to use drugs on his victims. Not very creative. I made a thread about this a while back and some people got mad. My thinking was if you are turned on by drugging and raping women, why not hire top end escorts who will either pretend you are drugging them or actually let you drug them (I’m going to assume they’d only do that if someone else was in the room to watch) and screw them. Nobody gets hurt, Cosby keeps his reputation. He has been accused of doing this for 40 years, so I think the time for therapy is passed. he isn’t some mentally ill person who didn’t know any better, he has abused his power and fame (and sense of trust he built) to take advantage of people. And the fact that 50+ women have all come forward means he is likely guilty of something. ---
**Author:** ![lalaith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@lalaith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalaith)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/6 "2015-12-30T18:21:54Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > Huh, I would have figured the statute of limitations would have been hit on an 11 year old crime. I’m not sure Cosby will go to jail either way since he’ll be 80 when he gets convicted maybe this will end up being a home arrest type situation. 12 years. Statute of limitations is 12 years in Pennsylvania. It would have been up sometime in January. One article I read said it was days before it was up. I wonder if his accusers would be satisfied with a criminal guilty finding and not prison? They might. Janice Dickinson said all she wanted was an apology. I’ve often wondered if more of his accusers felt the same. I think Cosby might have avoided charges if he had come clean and made a full apology. (Not one of those “if” I offended half-assed apologies.) I even wrote a hypothetical apology for him on my site ([The Bill Cosby Apology](http://maggieameanderings.com/2015-Oct-4.htm)) Since there are only two cases (that I know of) where he could face criminal charges, if he’d – in addition to a public admission and apology – gotten down on his knees, pointed his old, blind eyes at each of those two women and begged for their forgiveness while offering either financial compensation or to donate huge bucks to rape awareness and treatment programs, would they have said that they were no longer interested in pressing charges? ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/7 "2015-12-30T18:31:49Z")
So, how do you think this will play out? He is now a shell of the man he once was. Tragic. If he was Japanese, he would commit suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/8 "2015-12-30T18:37:10Z")
I think he did it…but I wonder how they are gonna be able to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt so long after the crime. I mean, all they is someone’s memories of what happened. After 11 years. I can’t remember shit about what happened 11 years ago. Granted, my memory is for shit anyway, but hasn’t it been shown that memory itself is unreliable? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/9 "2015-12-30T18:40:45Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > He is now a shell of the man he once was. Tragic. I don’t find it tragic at all. If Cosby’s life has been ruined it’s still less than he deserves for the crimes he has committed. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/10 "2015-12-30T18:48:16Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > I think he did it…but I wonder how they are gonna be able to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt so long after the crime. I mean, all they is someone’s memories of what happened. After 11 years. I can’t remember shit about what happened 11 years ago. Granted, my memory is for shit anyway, but hasn’t it been shown that memory itself is unreliable? **lalaith** mentions in this post: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18975956&postcount=299](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18975956&postcount=299) That in Pennsylvania they can get some of the other women to testify to establish a pattern of behavior. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/11 "2015-12-30T18:51:52Z")
Don’t know if they really have enough here. They’re relying on the woman’s statements and Cosby’s admission in a civil trial deposition that he gave women Quaaludes for consensual sex. It’s not like there haven’t been trials and convictions for rape with that level of evidence, but it sounds weak. I think he did it, but it also looks like a sort of show trial intended to embarrass him with little chance of an honest conviction. But the totality of the evidence makes him look very guilty and I’m having a difficult time feeling sorry for him. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/12 "2015-12-30T21:11:23Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I would guess he could get willing sex partners without even going to prostitutes. He was wealthy, funny, attractive and famous. Sorry, but he was neither funny nor attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/13 "2015-12-30T21:19:28Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > Sorry, but he was neither funny nor attractive. I’m sure the guy is an asshole, but you can’t say he wasn’t funny. He’s one of the top (if I had to put a number on it) 20 comedians of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/14 "2015-12-30T21:22:58Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > He is now a shell of the man he once was. Tragic. That’s an appropriate thing to say if someone has bad stuff happen TO THEM. I don’t think it’s appropriate to call a serial rapist being forced to account for his bad actions a tragedy, however. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/15 "2015-12-30T21:30:31Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > Sorry, but he was neither funny nor attractive. In your opinion. I believe I’m safe in saying that the people who thought him funny would number in the tens of millions, and I count myself as one of them. Granted, his best years were earlier on. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/16 "2015-12-30T21:38:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Don’t know if they really have enough here. They’re relying on the woman’s statements and Cosby’s admission in a civil trial deposition that he gave women Quaaludes for consensual sex. It’s not like there haven’t been trials and convictions for rape with that level of evidence, but it sounds weak. I think he did it, but it also looks like a sort of show trial intended to embarrass him with little chance of an honest conviction. But the totality of the evidence makes him look very guilty and I’m having a difficult time feeling sorry for him. Agreed. The fact that they didn’t bring charges earlier because they didn’t think they had a very provable case certainly makes a conviction seem less than a certainty. Plus if they manage to find people who are unaware of the rape situation, it hard to imagine there is much of anyone who isn’t at least vaguely aware of the last 40ish years of his “god guy” image. Pragmatically, and without detailed knowledge of the case, I’m not holding my breath for a guilty verdict… ---
**Author:** ![lalaith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@lalaith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalaith)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/17 "2015-12-30T21:44:59Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > **lalaith** mentions in this post: > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18975956&postcount=299](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18975956&postcount=299) > > That in Pennsylvania they can get some of the other women to testify to establish a pattern of behavior. Have just read this article and will repeat this here. From the Washington Post: “Under rules of evidence in Pennsylvania, prosecutors can introduce allegations brought by the other women if those allegations establish a mode of operation or pattern of behavior by Cosby.” [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/12/30/ap-report-bill-cosby-charged-in-sexual-assault-case/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/12/30/ap-report-bill-cosby-charged-in-sexual-assault-case/) ---
**Author:** ![lalaith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@lalaith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalaith)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/18 "2015-12-30T22:01:22Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > He is now a shell of the man he once was. Tragic. I get it. I’ve been interested in this case enough that I’ve followed it carefully and written about varying aspects of it three times on my website over the course of the year. I’ve said that Cosby got full credit for the good things he did in his life. But he should also get full credit for the bad things he did in his life. Cosby’s hypocrisy and arrogance and complete stubbornness and sense of entitlement infuriate me. I can only imagine what it was like for those women to know this man did what he did to them but see him being venerated. What it must have been like every time they saw him on TV or heard his name. I want these women to get vindicated. If Cosby won’t step-up and take responsibility for his actions, then I’d like them to have a court decision saying it happened. All of that…and yet sometimes I still feel some compassion for Bill Cosby. He did it to himself. He shouldn’t get away with it. But I look at the old man who’s going blind (if he isn’t already) and who’s lost a lot of what he clearly valued — respect, reputation. And, yes, I can find it in my heart to feel some compassion for him at times. Then other times, I hope he goes to prison and ends up so broke he has to move in with one of his kids. But it does remind me of a Greek tragedy where the protagonist is brought down by his fatal flaw. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/19 "2015-12-30T22:23:03Z")
> [@lalaith](#): > > ends up so broke he has to move in with one of his kids. That’s not too likely as Celebrity Net Worth says he has about $400 million. > **[Bill Cosby Net Worth](https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/actors/bill-cosby-net-worth/)** > > What is Bill Cosby's net worth? > [@](#): > > But it does remind me of a Greek tragedy where the protagonist is brought down by his fatal flaw. Oh definitely. Cosby has been charged. > [@](#): > > faces three felony charges of aggravated indecent assault in the case And got a $1 million bail which he has already posted. > [@](#): > > The judge set his bail at $1 million and ordered him to surrender his passport. Cosby did not enter a plea. > **[Bill Cosby arraigned; TV star’s attorneys vow to fight ‘unjustified’ charge |...](https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/30/us/bill-cosby-sexual-assault-investigation-pennsylvania/)** > > Bill Cosby was arraigned Wednesday on sexual assault charges in relation to a 2004 accusation. Cosby’s attorneys vowed to “mount a vigorous defense.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735/20 "2015-12-30T22:35:31Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I’m sure the guy is an asshole, but you can’t say he wasn’t funny. He’s one of the top (if I had to put a number on it) 20 comedians of all time. Agreed. His early recordings and performances, especially the ones about his childhood and all the adventures and scares and excitement he had as a kid, were not just hilariously funny but had a childish innocence about the humor that in retrospect is both ironic and creepy. But they truly were funny and _The Cosby Show_, like it or not, was a television institution. The guy is apparently a deranged pervert and total asshole, but he did have significant achievements. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-is-finally-being-charged-for-sex-crimes-it-is-about-damn-time/741735.md?page=2)