Darren Sharper Gets 18 Years in Prison for Serial Rape - What Does This Mean for Bill Cosby?

Former NFL Pro Bowl Safety Darren Sharper was sentenced to 18 years and 4 months in jail after having been found guilty for drugging and sexually assaulting somewhere between 9 and 16 women. The sentence, which reports state is 15 months short of the maximum for a crime of this magnitude, could see Sharper jailed for up to 14 years, if he doesn’t serve the full term, or if other charges are not added to his sentence. However, the interesting part of this story is not what happened to Sharper, but how Sharper’s conviction and sentencing affects another celebrity who is in the news for similar crimes; that person being none other than Mr. Bill Cosby.

The similarities between the two celebrities lie in the fact that both men are famous people, and that both men are accused of the same crime. However, the similarities in these two cases would seem to end with those facts, as the differences are numerous.

First, Sharper was convicted of having sexually assaulted somewhere between 9 and 16 women, and as a result, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. According to reports, Cosby is accused of having drugged and engaged in non-consensual sex with more than 60 women. Mathematically, if Sharper’s number turns out to be 15 women, then at four times as many, Cosby could be in line for a sentence of 73 years and 4 months. On the other hand, if Sharper’s number is actually only 10 women, then Cosby’s sentence could be 91 years and 8 months, five times as long as Sharper’s for five times as many women.

The next thing to consider is the fact that Sharper, at only 40 years of age, would, if he served the entire sentence, be only 59 years and one month old when we was released. If Bill Cosby were to be sentenced at some point during 2016, and if he is given a sentence similar to Sharper’s, he would be 97 years old if he lived through the entire term of imprisonment. Cosby’s advanced age might be an important factor, and one that could conceivably counteract the difference in the number of women of which he is accused as opposed to Darren Sharper, as a judge might not want Mr. Cosby to die in prison.

Perhaps the most important factor to consider is that while Darren Sharper was a top professional football player during his years in the NFL, Bill Cosby is, well…Bill Cosby.

Bill Cosby has been called “America’s Father” as the result of his successful sitcom “The Cosby Show”. He has also been heavily involved in education through ‘Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids” and through his appearances on “Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company”. Cosby has also been at the forefront of Civil Rights Activism, while at the same time, attempting to hold African-Americans accountable for their own life outcomes, as evidenced by his legendary “Pound Cake” speech. While not discounting the accomplishments of Darren Sharper, there are very few people in the world that might not have some idea of who Bill Cosby is, and of what he has done during his life, and this might also factor into his criminal trial. Just as with O.J. Simpson, there might be jurists who are not willing to convict Bill Cosby because he is Bill Cosby, and if they do, his sentence might not be as severe as Sharper’s because he is Bill Cosby, and will be in or near his eighties when he is sentenced.

Darren Sharper was sentenced to 18 years and 4 months for drugging and sexually assaulting somewhere between 9 and 16 women. With a sentence of that length being handed down, how does it affect Bill Cosby, who is accused of doing the same to nearly four times as many women? As Mr. Cosby’s situation plays out, we can only wonder what mitigating circumstances might have an effect on the outcome of his criminal proceedings.

Just Because You Can Say Something, Does Not Mean That You Have To

During Olympic coverage for the BBC, a reporter appeared on camera in a skirt that stopped well above her knees, and in typical fashion, social media went crazy with the debate over whether or not her skirt was appropriate. This event was a reminder of the Republican National Convention and reporter Megan Kelly’s “thin-strapped” top. Once again, social media was set ablaze with comments, and the world was divided with their opinions, as the issue became less about the outfits and more about the opinions.

What social media has done is provided everyone who has the ability to type or text an outlet to voice their opinions on any and everything, and that includes this blog. However, just because everyone has, and is entitled to an opinion, does not mean that they all need to be heard, especially regarding topics of what a reporter wears on television with all of the celebutantes posting nude or semi-nude pictures on the internet seemingly every day.

Social media is a mechanism whereby people can say whatever they want while allowing the world into their innermost thoughts and feelings. There have been stories of people falling victim to great personal harm because of their persistent need to let the world know what they were doing and thinking. Nevertheless, just because we have the right and ability to say something, this does not mean that we are obligated to.

Surely, we all have something more important to be concerned with than what a reporter is wearing during the broadcast of a sporting event near water in a humid country. It would seem that, during an event teeming with nationalism, every viewer would be more concerned with the opportunities for their home country to accumulate victories. Here, just as at the RNC, seemingly, viewers would be more concerned with the message than with how the messenger is dressed, and there were plenty of comments on the events as well.

I am not saying that people should not be able to voice their opinions, or voice them publicly, because after all, what would I do for a living? However, when the top trending topic on Twitter is the length of a female reporter’s skirt during a summer afternoon in Brazil, it would seem that social media has allowed events like the Olympics and the Political Conventions to be reduced to superficial topics such as outfits that seem inappropriate to some while sexually arousing others. Maybe we should think before we tweet.