The executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre says she’s thrilled to see the guilty verdict against Bill Cosby.
Megan Walker says after all the years of mounting allegations, she’s happy to finally see a guilty verdict against the disgraced comedian.
Cosby was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent sexual assault for drugging and molesting Toronto native Andrea Constand at his Philadelphia area home in 2004.
Walker tells 980 CFPL that she thinks back to when Cosby performed in London in 2015, and how some people denied any truth behind the allegations.
Get breaking National news
“I think sometimes people look at celebrities and place him on a pedestal, and in the case of Bill Cosby, they looked at him and believed he was Dr. Cliff Huxtable, and they could not see past that.”
The London show made headlines across North America when a man was escorted out of Budweiser Gardens when he interrupted the show by calling Cosby a rapist.
“The young man who went inside and heckled Mr. Cosby, and supported women, and to me that was such a great moment to see a young man standing in solidarity with us,” said Walker, who is hopeful that this will encourage more women to feel empowered to tell their stories.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that that’s the case, I think we will continue to see a significant increase in the number of women that come forward to tell their stories,” said Walker.
“And the number of women that will now be able to say ‘I don’t have to keep a secret anymore,’ and that’s really freeing, for women to be able to share their experience and know people will believe them. It’s very, very powerful.”
The jury of seven men and five women reached a verdict after deliberating 14 hours over two days, vindicating prosecutors’ decision to retry Cosby after his first trial ended with a hung jury less than a year ago.
Cosby, who turns 81 in July, is free on bail of $1 million while he awaits sentencing.
He could get up to 10 years in prison on each of the three counts.
Comments