ArcaMax

The video marked a tipping point in the national Cosby conversation. Within days, national media were giving new respect to dozens of women who were coming forward with more stories of Cosby assaulting them sexually.

But statutes of limitation made most of the charges too old to be prosecuted. Then Andrea Constand, an employee at Cosby's alma mater, Temple University, charged that Cosby had drugged and raped her in 2004. That trial ended in a hung jury last year.

But a few months later came another show-business-related event that has turned the tide for Cosby and numerous other famous and powerful men facing similar accusations: the outing of Harvey Weinstein as a serial sexual predator, a scandal that has borne fruit in the #MeToo movement.

It is hard to say how much the changed atmosphere had to do with Cosby's conviction on three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Constand. But there can be little doubt that complaints of sexual misconduct are no longer dismissed as casually as they used to be.

Cosby probably will appeal his conviction as he awaits sentencing. But the very fact that his conviction occurred marks a breakthrough, not only for the victims but also for the rest of us who, like me, are shocked and disappointed to see the parade of prominent men who have lost their jobs over charges that used to be taken too lightly.

Now reruns of "The Cosby Show" are disappearing from cable channels, where for decades they were a money machine. Harder to erase, I hope, will be two national conversations Cosby has helped to ignite, wittingly or unwittingly, about helping the poor to fight poverty and helping the victims of sexual predators to find justice.

========

(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)

(c) 2018 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.