Bill Cosby's denials ring hollow: Our view

Rape is often a he-said, she-said controversy, painted in hard-to-decipher grays. But when allegations turn into he-said, they-said — with at least 16 women publicly accusing the same man of sexual assault — the balance of believability tips toward the accusers.

In the face of an avalanche of on-the-record accusations, the denials by Bill Cosby's camp and the celebrated comedian's comment that he "shouldn't answer to innuendos" no longer carry the ring of credibility.

These are more than innuendos. These are full-blown accusations that span 40 years by more than a dozen women that Cosby sexually assaulted them, often after drugging them.

Many who've watched the ugly story explode over the past month, finding it difficult to square with the Cosby they thought they knew, have focused on two questions: Why would a wealthy mega-celebrity who could have his pick of women ever rape anybody? And why, if true, didn't the women report the alleged crimes to police when they happened?

The answer to the first question has been repeated so often it's almost a cliché: Rape is not about sexual desire; it is motivated by anger and power-seeking. "The fact that someone has ready access to consensual sex doesn't mean they won't be motivated to commit rape," says clinical psychologist David Lisak.

Rapists are living out their particular, warped psychological fantasies. Those who incapacitate women are looking for domination, not the mutual intimacy of consensual sex.

The answer to the second question is more complex, and it reflects society's evolving notions about sexual assault.

Back in the 1960s and '70s, the concept of "date rape" wasn't part of the public lexicon. Rape was generally regarded as a crime committed by a stranger who jumped out of the bushes to attack with a gun or knife.

Attitudes began to shift around the time Harvard law professor Susan Estrich wrote a law review article, and then a 1987 book, decrying failure to recognize as "real rape" a crime that can occur in a bedroom as well as an alley.

Even today, sexual assault scandals are unfolding at colleges across the country, in part because women often face a hostile or skeptical response when they report hard-to-prove date rapes.

So it's understandable that young women feared that if they'd gone to authorities and alleged that the famous Bill Cosby had drugged and molested them, they would have been laughed out of most police stations.

One woman did seek to press charges. In 2005, Andrea Constand told authorities that while she worked for Temple University in 2004, Cosby had drugged and sexually assaulted her at his suburban Philadelphia home. After authorities declined to prosecute, Constand filed a civil suit against Cosby, who settled with Constand in 2006.

The mounting accusations against Cosby, an icon of American comedy, are as sad as they are shocking. They will probably never be adjudicated in a court of law. But the Cosby camp's stonewalling speaks volumes. And, as Cosby continues touring, fans can deliver their own verdicts with their wallets.

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