Four days after Bill Cosby’s mistrial, his spokespeople shared on Good Morning Alabama that the comedian wants to get into teaching about a topic he’s familiar with: How to avoid being accused of sexual assault. According to Andrew Wyatt and Ebonee Benson, the 79-year-old wants to host a series of town hall-type talks aimed at young people.
The tour is slated to kick off in July and is not focused on survivors. Instead Cosby wants to instruct young people on how to avoid “potential victims” and those who could make accusations. “This issue can affect any young person, especially young athletes of today,” Wyatt said. “And they need to know what they’re facing when they’re hanging out and partying.”
Sexual assault cases at universities across the country including Stanford, Baylor, and others have made national headlines. Title IX reports that one in five women will be sexually assaulted during their college career. Statistics between schools vary, but this spring the University of Texas at Austin released an internal report showing that 15 percent of women on campus were raped and 28 percent reported instances of unwanted touching.
Benson cited new statute of limitation laws extending the time survivors can report sexual assault as one of the reasons this tour is important. “People need to be educated on a brush against a shoulder—anything at this point can be considered sexual assault,” Benson chimed in.
Cosby’s case ended in a deadlocked 10-2 jury. Cosby has been accused by dozens of women for instances sexual assault, but in this trial former Temple University administrator Andrea Constant accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 2004.
The household figure is free for now, but the prosecution announced shortly after the mistrial that they plan to retry the case. A retrial might put a serious pause on Cosby’s attempt to educate the youth, but then again, maybe he’s just teaching by example.
