In a Pennsylvania courtroom this afternoon, Bill Cosby was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault. The verdict comes after an initial trial in 2017 ended in a mistrial, and after dozens of women had come forward with their own accusations against the comedian.
While today was undoubtedly a victory for the central plaintiff in the case, Andrea Constand, as well as the other women who testified during the trial (Janice Dickinson, Janice Baker-Kinney, Heidi Thomas, Chelan Lasha, and Lisa Lotte-Lublin); it was a victory for every single woman who came forward with her accusations against the man once referred to as “America’s Dad” and the many more who may have suffered in silence.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele credited Constand and the other women for today’s verdict. “We are humbled by the courage all of them showed,” he said, according to Vox. “And we can’t help but applaud and celebrate the five witnesses that had a chance to face Bill Cosby in this case to tell the jury, to tell all of you, what he did to them.”
Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents many of the accusers, said, “We are so happy that finally we can say, women are believed. And not only on #MeToo but in a court of law where they are under oath, where they testified truthfully, where they are attacked. After all is said and done, women were finally believed.”
Outside the courtroom, reactions were understandably emotional. Lili Bernard, one of Cosby’s many accusers, was visibly overcome: “I feel like my faith in humanity is restored. This is a victory, not just for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, not just for the victim in the case, Andrea Constand, not just for the 62 of us publicly known survivors of Bill Cosby’s drug-facilitated sexual crimes … but it’s also a victory for all sexual assault survivors female and male. It’s a victory for womanhood.”
Cosby’s attorneys maintain that he is “not guilty of anything.”
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