"Detectives are investigating an allegation that a young boy was murdered by a Conservative MP during a sickening sex attack.
The Metropolitan Police Service’s paedophile unit, under ‘Operation Midland’, is also investigating a claim that a second boy was murdered during a depraved sexual assault in the presence of a former Conservative cabinet minister....the police are also investigating the murder of a third boy around 30 years ago by members of a paedophile network of MPs and other VIPs."
- Bill Cosby's Silence On Rape Allegations Makes Huge Media Noise
- Bill Cosby raped me. Why did it take 30 years for people to believe my story?
- Dr. Huxtable & Mr. Hyde
- Bill Cosby Under Fire The Comedian Settles a Case Accusing Him of Sexual Abuse—but Other Women Make Similar Claims
- Barbara Bowman Speaks About Bill Cosby Sexual Abuse Allegations
- One Very Important Thing Is Missing From the New Cosby - Biography: A Timeline of the Abuse Charges [Updated]
- In interview with tabloid, Bill Cosby discusses molestation allegations
- Organised child sex abuse 'widespread in England', MPs say
- Alexis Jay: Years of missing records mean Rotherham child abuse numbers ‘much higher’ than 1,400
- ‘Operation Midland’ investigates Tory MP over boy’s murder
Met also probes slaying of second boy in sex attack in front of former cabinet minister
- Historical abuse inquiry: Police examine 'possible homicide'
Bill Cosby's Silence On Rape Allegations Makes Huge Media Noise
November 17, 2014 Eric Deggans
But in the recent explosion of attention to allegations that the comedy superstar drugged and sexually assaulted several women years ago, in incidents reaching back to the late 1960s, Cosby has remained uncharacteristically silent — epitomized by his interview with NPR's Scott Simon, who found the comic would only shake his head and utter no sound when asked about the allegations.
His attorney did provide a statement posted on Cosby's website that said, in part, "decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced. The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. Mr. Cosby doesn't not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment."
Later, a joint statement from Cosby's attorney and a lawyer for Andrea Constand, a woman who settled a lawsuit with Cosby over such allegations in 2006, was posted on the site that read, in part: "The statement released by Mr. Cosby's attorney over the weekend was not intended to refer in any way to Andrea Constand. As previously reported, differences between Mr. Cosby and Ms. Constand were resolved to the mutual satisfaction of Mr. Cosby and Ms. Constand years ago."
News of Cosby's silence rocketed across media; the moment was covered everywhere from NBC's Today show to CNN, USA Today and The Washington Post, which called it "perhaps the most significant dead air in the history of National Public Radio."
When NPR most recently spoke to Cosby, four women had come forward publicly with rape allegations: Constand, Beth Ferrier, Tamara Green and Barbara Bowman. (See this story for a more detailed account of their allegations.) Over the weekend, another woman, 66-year-old publicist Joan Tarshis, also told media outlets she was drugged and raped by Cosby when she was 19 years old. Constand filed a lawsuit in 2005 that included 13 women willing to tell similar stories, Greene and Bowman among them; the suit was settled, no terms were disclosed and Cosby was never charged with a crime....
http://www.npr.org/2014/11/17/364736453/bill-cosbys-silence-on-rape-allegations-makes-huge-media-noise
Bill Cosby raped me. Why did it take 30 years for people to believe my story?
Only when a male comedian called Cosby a rapist did the accusation take hold.
By Barbara Bowman November 13
In 2004, when Andrea Constand filed a lawsuit against Bill Cosby for sexual assault, her lawyers asked me to testify. Cosby had drugged and raped me, too, I told them. The lawyers said I could testify anonymously as a Jane Doe, but I ardently rejected that idea. My name is not Jane Doe. My name is Barbara Bowman, and I wanted to tell my story in court. In the end, I didn’t have the opportunity to do that, because Cosby settled the suit for an undisclosed amount of money.
Over the years, I’ve struggled to get people to take my story seriously. So last month, when reporter Lycia Naff contacted me for an interview for the Daily Mail, I gave her a detailed account. I told her how Cosby won my trust as a 17-year-old aspiring actress in 1985, brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times. In one case, I blacked out after having dinner and one glass of wine at his New York City brownstone, where he had offered to mentor me and discuss the entertainment industry. When I came to, I was in my panties and a man’s t-shirt, and Cosby was looming over me. I’m certain now that he drugged and raped me. But as a teenager, I tried to convince myself I had imagined it. I even tried to rationalize it: Bill Cosby was going to make me a star and this was part of the deal. The final incident was in Atlantic City, where we had traveled for an industry event....
They, like other sexual assault victims, deserve our support. It’s the perpetrators who should be facing public humiliation – not the victims....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/11/13/bill-cosby-raped-me-why-did-it-take-30-years-for-people-to-believe-my-story/
Dr. Huxtable & Mr. Hyde
Who is Bill Cosby? What’s happened to the man who taught us to laugh at ourselves — and what do we do with him now? By Robert Huber June 9, 2006
.... A young Canadian woman he met in Philadelphia through Temple University is accusing him of drugging her and then, when she was in a near-comatose state, molesting her. It went nowhere legally — the woman, Andrea Constand, waited a year before going to police, it boiled down to a he said/she said (Cosby claimed the sex was consensual, according to ABC News), and the police dropped the case for lack of evidence. But Constand filed a civil complaint in federal court in Philly last year, suing for an unspecified amount of money over $150,000. It is still Cosby’s no against her yes, except for one difference: Thirteen women are waiting to be deposed in the suit; in a court filing, Constand’s lawyer says that all of them — with nothing to gain, with no payout waiting, with their own statutes of limitations run out — have stories about Bill Cosby as well, and some of them will claim a similar drug-and-fondling M.O.
....The Story That Andrea Constand Tells
She met Bill Cosby in late 2002 when she was director of operations for Temple’s women’s basketball. He became a friend and mentor. In January 2004, Cosby invited Constand to his home in Elkins Park. She went there at about 9 p.m. Constand wanted to change careers and told Cosby she felt stressed. Cosby offered her three blue pills — herbal medication, he said, that would help her relax. She took the pills....
....The Story That Tamara Green Tells
Back in the ’70s, before Green became a lawyer, Cosby hired her to help him open a club in L.A. A week into the job, she felt sick, and called Cosby at Figero, a restaurant he owned, to say she was leaving for home. He invited her to the restaurant for lunch — it might make her feel better. She went. Cosby asked if she wanted some Contac, then handed her two gray-and-red capsules. She took them....
....The Story That Beth Ferrier Tells
Ferrier, 47, met Bill Cosby in 1984 when she was modeling in New York. They started an affair that lasted about six months. Cosby ended it without explanation. Then he called her one night in Denver, where she lived; they met backstage at a nightclub there, where he was performing. He said, “Here’s your favorite coffee, something I made, to relax you.” She drank it....
....The Story That Barbara Bowman Tells
Bowman’s incident with Bill Cosby occurred 20 years ago, when she was an aspiring actress. She told a lawyer. The lawyer laughed at her. She never mentioned it to an authority figure again. Bowman won’t disclose details of what happened before she’s deposed. But when she read about Andrea Constand, she decided that enough was enough — she couldn’t sit in silence any longer.
http://www.phillymag.com/articles/dr-huxtable-mr-hyde/
Bill Cosby Under Fire By Alex Tresniowski The Comedian Settles a Case Accusing Him of Sexual Abuse—but Other Women Make Similar Claims December 18, 2006 Vol. 66 No. 25
....What Cosby never mentioned was the civil lawsuit he settled just two days earlier with Andrea Constand, 32, a former Temple University employee who claimed Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in his Philadelphia-area mansion in 2004. Constand's lawyers Dolores Troiani and Bebe Kivitz ended up with 13 witnesses, most referred to in court documents as "Jane Does," who came forward voluntarily with strikingly similar claims of drugging and or abuse by Cosby. Terms of the settlement, reached before any of the women could testify, were not disclosed. But PEOPLE reporters have interviewed five of the women and share three of their stories now.
As in so many cases alleging sexual assault, these women make imperfect witnesses. They are talking about events two or three decades old. Many of their recollections are fragmentary, and in some cases, they are not even sure what happened between them and Cosby, though that is not unusual in cases where a possible date-rape drug is involved. None of the women ever contacted police with their stories, either at the time of the alleged assaults or in the years leading up to Constand's revelations, and two of the five women reached by PEOPLE allowed Cosby to pay part or all of their travel and/or living expenses for some time. Three accepted cash from him years after the incidents, and two even went on to have consensual relationships with him.
But none of them stand to profit from suing Cosby for monetary damages; the statute of limitations on all their charges has expired. And their stories, which take place in several cities and span two decades, illustrate the same pattern of behavior....
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20059561,00.html
Barbara Bowman Speaks About Bill Cosby Sexual Abuse Allegations
By Katie J.M. Baker 2/12/14
Last week, Newsweek interviewed Tamara Green, one of 13 women who accused Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them in a civil lawsuit brought by Andrea Constand in 2004, and settled under undisclosed terms in 2006. Now, a second woman is speaking out: Barbara Bowman, a 46-year-old artist who says Cosby took her under his wing in the late ‘80s, when she was a teenager -- and repeatedly emotionally and physically abused her.
Both Bowman and Green joined the 2004 lawsuit as witnesses after hearing about it on television; neither had anything to gain financially, as the statute of limitations had expired for both of them....
Why do you think people find it so hard to believe celebrities can be sexual assaulters?
The media creates this idealized image of celebrities: that they are untouchable, that they’re not one of us... I don’t think people want to believe it; to believe would shatter the illusion....
http://www.newsweek.com/barbara-bowman-speaks-about-bill-cosby-sexual-abuse-allegations-228837
One Very Important Thing Is Missing From the New Cosby Biography: A Timeline of the Abuse Charges [Updated]
By Matt Giles
http://www.vulture.com/2014/09/timeline-of-the-abuse-charges-against-cosby.html
In interview with tabloid, Bill Cosby discusses molestation allegations
By Bill Bergstrom ASSOCIATED PRESS March 4, 2005
PHILADELPHIA – Comedian Bill Cosby, responding to a woman's allegations of sexual molestation, said "words and actions can be misinterpreted," but he insisted he wouldn't give in to any attempt to "exploit" him because he's a celebrity....
The 67-year-old entertainer, best-known as a warm, wisecracking TV dad, was cleared of criminal charges in connection with the allegations. Attorneys for the Canadian woman said they plan to file a civil lawsuit against Cosby next week.
In the interview, Cosby said he didn't speculate on whether money was the woman's motive. "Let's not go there," he said. But he asserted: "I am not going to give in to people who try to exploit me because of my celebrity status."....
The woman, who lives in Ontario, told Canadian authorities that, after a night out with friends in January 2004, Cosby gave her medication that made her dizzy, then fondled her.
Cosby denied the allegations. The accuser's family had described Cosby as a friend and mentor to the woman, which he didn't deny. He told the tabloid a role as mentor can lead to trouble.
"Sometimes you try to help people and it backfires on you and then they try to take advantage of you," Cosby said.
http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050304/news_1n4cosby.html
Organised child sex abuse 'widespread in England', MPs say
17 November 2014
Organised child sex abuse is widespread in England, a report by MPs on the Rotherham exploitation scandal says.
A review of child protection systems across the country has been called for by the Commons' Communities and Local Government Committee.
Its report also said Rotherham Council and Ofsted had "failed" the victims targeted in the town.
It suggested the council's protection policies were "divorced from reality", enabling the abuse to continue.
MPs said, however, the town was "not an outlier" for abuse and all councils needed to review child protection policies.
'More rigorous inspection'
Their inquiry was prompted by a report by Professor Alexis Jay, which revealed up to 1,400 children were estimated to have been victims of abuse in the South Yorkshire town between 1997 and 2013....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-30083835
Alexis Jay: Years of missing records mean Rotherham child abuse numbers ‘much higher’ than 1,400 11/17/04
....Inquiry author Professor Jay said five years of data from Rotherham Council about victims is missing, while South Yorkshire Police was unable to record the scale of the problem before 2013 as it did not categorise child sexual exploitation as a form of crime until last year.
Four years’ worth of meeting minutes discussing child abuse cases between 1999 and 2003 have also disappeared.
A letter Prof Jay sent to the Communities and Local Government Committee has been made public ahead of a report by MPs being published tomorrow. She said a category for recording child sexual exploitation cases was introduced by police only in 2013, meaning the force was ‘unable to quantify the scale of the problem’ prior to last year.
While social services did officially recognise the issue from 2001, she said some victims were wrongly classified as being ‘out of control’.
Prof Jay said Rotherham Council provided information for only 11 of the 16 years covered by the inquiry.
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/alexis-jay-years-of-missing-records-mean-rotherham-child-abuse-numbers-much-higher-than-1-400-1-6956491
‘Operation Midland’ investigates Tory MP over boy’s murder
Met also probes slaying of second boy in sex attack in front of former cabinet minister
By Mark Conrad 15 November 2014
Detectives are investigating an allegation that a young boy was murdered by a Conservative MP during a sickening sex attack.
The Metropolitan Police Service’s paedophile unit, under ‘Operation Midland’, is also investigating a claim that a second boy was murdered during a depraved sexual assault in the presence of a former Conservative cabinet minister.
Exaro, which has been investigating the murder cases over many months, helped to arrange for a key witness to pass his crucial testimony to the Met. We can reveal that, as a result, the police are also investigating the murder of a third boy around 30 years ago by members of a paedophile network of MPs and other VIPs.
....The Met announced on Friday that Operation Midland was investigating historical allegations of child sex abuse and “possible homicide”.
The Met said in a statement: “Detectives from the child abuse investigation command are working closely with colleagues from the homicide and major crime command concerning this information, which is being looked at under the name of Operation Midland.”
....He has provided detectives with a graphic, written account of the attack, which he compiled before he contacted them.
Nick said that he was picked up at an agreed meeting point and driven into central London. The chauffeur-driven car stopped at a property on the way, he said, to collect the boy who would later be murdered.
....At a meeting with detectives from the Met’s paedophile unit, at which the witness insisted that our reporter was present, Nick passed to them the name of the MP who allegedly murdered the boy, along with a list of other prominent people who, he says, sexually and physically abused him.
Nick said that his abusive father supplied him to the paedophile network of VIPs.
According to his harrowing account to police, two men whose names he did not know killed a second boy during a savage physical attack in front of a separate MP, a former Conservative cabinet minister. He dates this killing at between a year and 18 months after the strangling of the boy in the town house.
....The ex-minister, said Nick, repeatedly raped him and other boys aged between 10 and 14 at “abuse parties” at Dolphin Square and elsewhere. Both former MPs are alive....
http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5409/operation-midland-investigates-tory-mp-over-boy-s-murder
Historical abuse inquiry: Police examine 'possible homicide'
By Tom Symonds Home Affairs correspondent 14 November 2014
The man says he was first abused by his own father before being "handed over" as a young boy to the group
Child abuse investigations
Police are investigating "possible homicide" linked to what has been described as a paedophile ring involving powerful people in the 1970s and 1980s.
The group is alleged to have included senior figures in public life, the military, politics and law enforcement....
A key witness who has spoken to police has told the BBC that he was abused for nine years as a boy....
Speaking anonymously to the BBC but using the name "Nick", the alleged victim said he had given three days of video-taped evidence to detectives.
His accounts are being assessed as part of Operation Midland, a new Scotland Yard investigation which is under the umbrella of its inquiry into historical abuse, Operation Fairbank.
Nick, now in his 40s, says that he was first abused by his own father before being "handed over" as a young boy to the group.
"They were very powerful people and they controlled my life for the next nine years," Nick added.
"They created fear that penetrated every part of me, day in day out. You didn't question what they wanted, you did as they asked without question and the punishments were very severe."
Nick said the group was "very organised" and would arrange for chauffeur-driven cars to pick up boys, sometimes from school, and drive them to "parties" or "sessions" at locations including hotels and private apartments in London and other cities.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30052726
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