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Editor, News-Register:
It is quite disturbing, indeed, to see the apparent degeneration of the "off-screen" character of the iconic actor/comedian Bill Cosby, who was born on July 12, 1937 in Philadelphia, and for a great many years was extremely popular and highly respected, earning him the title of "America's Dad" for his portrayal of Dr. Cliff Huxtable on the ultra-popular television situation comedy series "The Cosby Show." The show, which appeared on network television from 1984-1992, was ranked, from 1985-1989, as the top-rated prime-time program on television.
Mr. Cosby began his career in show business as a very popular stand-up comedian. He starred, along with Robert Culp, in the dramatic television series "I Spy" from 1965-1968, in which he was successfully cast as the "first African-American as a lead character in an American television dramatic program."
However, apparently there was a rather troubling aspect of the character of Mr. Cosby that led to his imprisonment in 2018, as he was convicted (just recently, his conviction was overturned by a judge) for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004, and was sentenced to a 10-year prison term.
In addition, it has also been reported that Mr. Cosby had (allegedly) sexually assaulted no fewer than 57 women over the years.
Most shocking, indeed!
However, recently Mr. Cosby has had his conviction overturned, as a result of a divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that stated that Mr. Cosby was "denied a fair trial" and, as a result, has been released from prison.
That decision was (based upon) that Mr. Cosby had provided self-incriminating evidence based on the fact that the district attorney in the case had promised Mr. Cosby that is such were revealed that "he would not be charged," and it was also revealed that following the reversal of the earlier decision, that Mr. Cosby would not be re-charged.
In other words, there was no exoneration of Mr. Cosby for the heinous acts for which he had been accused, but was essentially released as a result of a "legal technicality/procedural error."
Now it has been revealed that Mr. Cosby is unrepentant, planning to resume his career as a stand-up comedian, and he also plans to give "motivational speeches" for large sums of money.
Also, he may well be planning to recover lost income through the legal process, as a result of his incarceration.
I wonder how Mr. Cosby's professed victims feel about this recent turn of events.
Richard Hord
Martins Ferry