Ethics & Religion
October 18, 2017
Column #1,886
Why Aren't Famous Sexual Offenders Prosecuted?
By Mike McManus

A growing number of prominent media moguls have been accused of sexual assault - Donald Trump, Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly, Bill Cosby and most recently, Harvey Weinstein.

Why have none been successfully prosecuted?

Bill Cosby is the only one who faced charges in court. His trial ended with a hung jury, and Cosby's claim of "victory." He was charged with three counts of indecent assault in an incident involving former Temple University basketball staffer Andrea Constand at his home in suburban Philadelphia in 2004.

He claimed the encounter was consensual. She testified that Cosby drugged her and robbed her of the ability to consent. Cosby reportedly touched her and digitally penetrated her.

Fifty women have stated that they experienced a similar prelude of drugs followed by sexual misconduct by Cosby, including rape. And some of them offered to testify, but the judge would not allow the prosecutor to do so, according to top attorney Gloria Allred.

Why not? The case would have been far more convincing than with only one victim.

True, many of those who have made public charges against him, involved incidents that were decades old. The Pennsylvania statute of limitations requires victims to make charges within 12 years. However, there were other victims within the last dozen years.

The judge made a major mistake in not allowing such victims to testify. The result was a hung jury. The prosecution has promised a retrial.

Hopefully, it has learned its lesson, and will have several victims testify against Cosby, so that he is convicted of a crime.

He should spend his last days in prison.

Why were there no trials involving Roger Ailes, President of Fox and of Bill O'Reilly, his biggest star? Many of the women sued them, instead. Very profitably.

Gretchen Carlson sued Ailes for sexual harassment and Fox settled the case for $20 million. It paid another $25 million to other women. And five women collected a total of $13 million for sexual misconduct by O'Reilly. After Carlson filed her suit, more than 20 women stepped forward accusing Ailes of sexual crimes over decades.

Fox News severed ties with Ailes months before he died, and with O'Reilly. However, Fox paid O'Reilly a severance package of $25 million, and $40 million to Ailes to exit.

However, why don't prosecutors find women who will testify against O'Reilly? He should serve prison time instead of leading a life of luxury.

Rape is a far more common crime than I realized. One in five women have been raped in the United States according to the National Sexual Violence Center. In eight of 10 cases of rape, the victim knew her assailant. And 81% of the rape victims report significant short term or long term impacts, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

What about Harvey Weinstein? His firms produced many films, earning 300 Oscar nominations and Academy Awards for such films as "Shakespeare in Love." Other noted films were "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" and "Pulp Fiction." But he has been accused of sexual misconduct by such stars as Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Ronan Farrow (son of Mia Farrow) wrote an extensive article for The New Yorker in which 13 women said they were harassed or assaulted. Asia Argento, an Italian film actress and director said he forcibly performed oral sex on her, because she feared he would ruin her career, as he did to others.

A former aspiring actress, Lucia Evans, said she was raped by him. She gave up her dream of being in movies. Four women cited encounters in which Weinstein exposed himself or masturbated in front of them.

Furthermore, 16 former and current executives at his companies said they witnessed or had knowledge of unwanted sexual advances. Some female employees were enlisted to attend meetings in a subterfuge to make victims feel safe. Then they left for Weinstein to close in. One executive who worked for him many years lamented, "This was ongoing predatory behavior toward women - whether they consented or not."

Farrow writes, "Virtually all of the people I spoke with told me that they were frightened of retaliation." It was a valid fear. Four actresses, including Rosanna Arquette, suspected that after they rejected his advances or complained about them to company representatives - Weinstein had them removed from projects.

The Los Angeles City Attorney "will prosecute" Weinstein if victims will come forward.
Hopefully Academy Award winners such as Gwyneth Paltrow, who need not fear retaliation, will do so.

He deserves prison.

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Copyright (c) 2017 Michael J. McManus, a syndicated columnist and past president of Marriage Savers. For previous columns go to  www.ethicsandreligion.org. Hit Search for any topic.