Sex Crime
Cosby Retrial Shapes Up as a Referendum on ‘Rape Myths’
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“Most common knowledge about sexual assault is wrong,” forensic psychiatrist Barbara Ziv testified. Prosecutors are betting that jurors will absorb the concept.
TCR Special Reports
Domestic Abuse: Puerto Rico’s Women in Crisis
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A dedicated network of psychologists, advocates and shelters has emerged to cope with the rise in domestic violence victims since last year’s Hurricane Maria. The challenge is complicated by the slow pace of reconstruction and the lack of government resources.
Sex Crime
Backpage.com CEO Ferrer Admits Guilt in Plea Deal
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Carl Ferrer, CEO and co-founder of the classified ad website Backpage.com, cut a plea deal with state and federal prosecutors, admitting he knew that the site had become a massive online marketplace for prostitution. He faces up to five years in prison.
Sex Crime
Trump Signs Law Curbing Sex-Trafficking Websites
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On the heels of a federal move to shut down the Backpage website, President Trump signed a bill on Wednesday that gives federal and state prosecutors greater power to pursue websites that host sex-trafficking ads and enables victims and state attorneys general to file lawsuits against those sites.
Sex Crime
Cosby $3.4M Settlement Plays a Big Role in Retrial
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Prosecutor Kevin Steele suggested that the size of the 80-year-old entertainer’s payment to Andrea Constand indicated Cosby had something to hide after years of attacking other women in strikingly similar ways. A topless demonstrator disrupted the trial.
Sex Crime
With Backpage Closed, Where Will the Sex Slave Trade Go?
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Human trafficking expert Kimberley Mehlman-Orozco argues the commercial sex trade will move to dark corners of the web, making it harder for authorities to catch traffickers and rescue victims.
Policy & Politics
California’s DNA Ruling Helps Fight Crime, Victims Say
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Privacy advocates say California’s Supreme Court justices put citizens’ most personal info at risk when they rejected an appeal last Monday to strike down a law requiring all arrested individuals to provide DNA samples. Supporters of the ruling say concerns about the law, similar to statutes now in effect in 30 states, are overblown.
Sex Crime
Cosby Wins Defense Rulings in Sex Assault Retrial
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Judge Steven O’Neill will allow testimony by a woman who claims that Cosby’s accuser had talked about trying to frame a celebrity. The defense lost a potential juror who might have agreed with that strategy.
Sex Crime
Cosby Prosecutors Want to Use Quaaude Testimony
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Prosecutors and lawyers for Bill Cosby sparred Friday over whether jurors at his sexual assault retrial will hear lurid deposition testimony from the comedian about giving quaaludes to a string of women before sex, Jury selection is due to start on Monday. The judge refused to recuse himself.
Reforming the System
Is #MeToo a Movement or a Moment?
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With heightened media attention towards sexual misconduct in the workplace, a panel at John Jay College examined how to turn women’s concerns into efforts to produce long-term change. The issue is “shaking and shaping our time,” said New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.