It has been over a year since multiple sexual assault allegations from dozens of women against Bill Cosby were made public, and the man has just now been charged legally.

According to MSN, Cosby was charged with indecent aggravated assault and was released on bail at $1,000,000. The assault charges came from an incident involving Cosby and Temple University employee Andrea Constand in 2004.

Allegations against Cosby span decades, going back to his time on television in the 1970s all the way to a few years ago, and many women have come forward claiming Cosby sexually assaulted them.

While there is no absolute evidence in some of these cases, there is damning evidence from a 2005 deposition where Cosby admits to purchasing Quaalude pills with the purpose of drugging and assaulting young women.

Cosby has claimed innocence through this whole process, finally speaking out on Twitter this past week with the simple tweet “Friends and Fans, Thank You.” He has assembled a legal team that has sued eight of the accusers for defamation already, and it seems they will sue more.

At this point there are few supporters of Bill Cosby. The beloved comedian and actor made a living as a clean-cut and moral comedian, but his alleged past actions have all but erased his upstanding public image.

Responses to Cosby’s tweet do show that some people still support him and believe he is innocent, and it seems Cosby and his team will continue to claim his innocence even as he goes through more and more legal trouble, but the man really needs to give up.

Everyone is assumed innocent until proven guilty, and it has been proven that Bill Cosby is guilty. Perhaps not for each individual accusation, but there is the deposition where he admits his intentions of sexual assault.

Now, sadly some of the women claiming they were assaulted by Cosby may be lying simply to make themselves more famous or to get money, but this is not a known fact. There is the possibility that they are all telling the truth. Regardless, the fact that Cosby can continue to claim innocence only damages his reputation more, not that it needs any more damage to make him seem like a terrible human being.

Instead of just admitting and owning up to his terrible past, Cosby continues to lie and say he is innocent, even though evidence points to the contrary. Even if he is charged, like he was this past week, he can most likely make bail, meaning he will not even have to go to prison to be punished for his actions.

Maybe the total damage to his wholesome reputation and millions of people turning their backs on him will be enough punishment for him, but it is still frustrating knowing that he will most likely get away with his actions.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and are not representative of The Slate or its staff as a whole.

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