Bill Cosby wanted to meet with young people to teach them how not to get accused of sexual assault. Photo / AP
Bill Cosby, the entertainer accused of sexual assault, is unlikely to hold a series of town hall meetings that he was planning.
He wanted to meet with young people to teach them how not to get accused of sexual assault. His legal team has stopped him, though. Fortunately.
He's facing a retrial on sexual assault charges, after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the first trial.
And since then, a juror in that first trial has spoken out, on condition of anonimity.
You'll remember some 60 women came forward alleging that Cosby had sexually assaulted them, many claiming he'd drugged them and sexually assaulted or raped them while they were stupefied.
Cosby could only be tried on one case, though -- the other cases were considered historic.
His accuser, Andrea Constand, said she saw Cosby as a mentor and a friend, and never sought a romantic relationship with him.
On the day the alleged assault took place, Constand went to Cosby's house with gifts -- incense and bath salts for his wife apparently.
The juror in question had issue with this.
He said it was clear Constand arrived at Cosby's house looking for more than friendship.
He said -- and I quote -- "let's face it. She went up to his house with a bare midriff and incense and bath salts. What the heck?"
The juror went on to say if she wasn't looking for anything other than mentoring, she should have dressed properly and left the incense in the store.
He also believes many of those women have fabricated their claims.
"This is ridiculous, unbelievable....I think more than half (of these women have) jumped on the bandwagon."
And he says that even though Constand is in her forties now, he says her mother is the driving force behind this court case.
Constand reported the incident to police a year after it happened....but the juror says "it was her mother who forced all this."
Cosby gave her three pills and said they were herbal. Soon afterwards, she began to slur, her vision blurred and she lost her ability to resist. She said she couldn't move, and couldn't fight him in any way.
None-the-less, the juror said it is Cosby who has been honest.
He says he shouldn't face a retrial because he has "already paid dearly" because of the allegations.
He said there was "no stained garment, no smoking gun, nothing...." no physical evidence to commit Cosby.
The juror's comments, not surprisingly, have floored many in America and beyond.
Because suddenly, in 2017, we're reminded that society still needs educating on the myths surrounding rape and sexual assault.
The juror wanted physical evidence of rape, he was critical of Constand for showing her midriff, and a gift of incense or bath salt is, apparently, something of a come on.
How could someone so ignorant be asked to determine justice?
In such a high profile case, where I suspect it's easy to confuse Bill Cosby's lovable character Dr Huxtable with the man, many woman claim was a depraved, serial rapist who drugged his victims -- justice is probably best left in the hands of a judge, not a jury.
Let's see what happens in the retrial but thank goodness Cosby has been stopped from meeting with young people to advise them on how to avoid being accused of sexual assault.
