Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 5-1-18

Opinions
Readers Respond To Bill Cosby Conviction
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Last Thursday, a jury found popular comedian Bill Cosby guilty of sexual as- sault. The first trial ended in a hung jury.
The story that ended in the conviction began several years ago when a woman ac- cused him of drugging her and then having sex with her. The list of women who came forward after that expanded to more than 30 alleged vic- tims. Cosby is facing a max- imum 30 years in prison on the three charges.
The 80-year-old was not taken into custody, but or- dered to remain on house ar- rest. Many people were shocked over the conviction. Some Sentinel readers shared their opinions.
Mrs. Bonnye Crews said, “I agree with the jury’s verdict. Hopefully it will en- courage victims of assault to
MRS. BONNYE CREWS
seek the justice they deserve —- even if the offender is rich and famous.”
Danny Green said, “I really don’t know if he’s guilty or not. But, I don’t un- derstand why the women
take so long to come for- ward. And if he did the crime he should do the time.
“We really don’t know the truth and I really don’t trust American Justice System. People in his posi- tion need to be very careful. This should be a lesson for everyone. I pray for all of the families.”
Pastor Karen Sims
said, “It’s difficult to say whether the verdict against Mr. Cosby was fair since none of us had the benefit of hearing it in the courtroom.
“One thing we do know, there were a large number of
women who came forward to accuse Mr. Cosby of sexual assault. If he committed just one of these crimes he should be held accountable. No amount of money, power or persona should be above the law. Now, I will be very in- terested in seeing if the charges make it to court as quickly against Harvey We- instein and Donald Trump.
Dr. Samuel Wright
said, “The entire situation sickens me! I pray for Bill Cosby and his family. After all these years, I am not sure we should be entertaining this.”
Ms. Fredi Beck said, “The evidence was so over- whelming against Bill Cosby that I have to believe the correct verdict was reached. The fact that a GPS tracker bracelet was placed on him should be enough se- curity for now, until the sen- tencing phase of the trial is completed.
“If he was a younger man, I would say yes, jail time, but given his age, I don’t know that that is the right place for him. The whole thing breaks my heart as I was raised with the Cosby kids in my house- hold, and I feel terribly be- trayed by it all!”
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