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Tag: rape

  • Uber Rapist Given Life in Prison in India

    An Indian Uber Driver, who was convicted of rape while endangering the life of a woman, kidnapping, and criminal intimidation last month, has been given a sentence of life in prison.

    Shiv Kumar Yadav was found guilty in Delhi on October 20th. His victim, 26, said she fell asleep in the back of his car and when she woke up she found herself in a “secluded location” with Yadav on her in the backseat.

    The BBC reports that Yadav’s life sentence is the maximum penalty he could’ve received.

    The Delhi Uber rape case was one of the most-publicized in recent memory – not just in India but also in the US. In January, the victim sued Uber in US federal court. Her lawsuit was scathing, calling Uber the “modern day equivalent of electronic hitchhiking.” She demanded damages and called for Uber to institute some passenger safeguards in India, including mandatory in-car video cameras.

    Uber was quick to express its disgust when reports of the crime emerged.

    “This is an abhorrent crime. Our thoughts remain with the victim who has shown tremendous courage under the circumstances,” said Uber’s Saad Ahmed at the time. “Safety is our #1 priority and in India.”

    Uber was then suspended in New Delhi.

    “We are sorry and deeply saddened by what happened over the weekend in New Delhi. Our hearts go out to the victim of this horrible crime. We have been and will continue to do everything in our power to assist the authorities to help bring the perpetrator to justice,” said Uber. “The events of this week have made us reflect on our operations in India and we are immediately undertaking a number of important actions. During this review, we will suspend operations in New Delhi.”

    Uber was later reinstated after applying for the required taxi licenses.

    A few months later, Uber improved its “SOS” button for Indian passengers. When in a dangerous situation, tapping the SOS button on the app will automatically connect you with the police – and the update allowed it to also automatically send GPS info.

    In September, the woman pulled her lawsuit.

  • Uber Sued for $1M in Dallas Rape Case Involving Driver with Criminal Record

    Uber Sued for $1M in Dallas Rape Case Involving Driver with Criminal Record

    Uber is facing yet another lawsuit – this time from a Dallas woman who says she was raped by one of the company’s drivers last month.

    We recently reported on the case, in which Uber driver Talal Ali Chammout allegedly drove a woman to her Dallas home, followed her inside, hit her in the back of the head, and raped her. Chammout has a criminal record, and served time in prison on federal weapons charges. He was just released in 2012.

    On top of that, Chammout didn’t even have a valid permit.The city of Dallas said it never would’ve allowed Chammout behind the wheel – but somehow Uber did.

    Uber called it a “mistake” and said it was a “terrible situation.”

    Now, the woman who was attacked is suing Uber for “more than $1 million” to cover medical expenses and damages, according to the Dallas Morning News. The lawsuit claims Uber was negligent when it let Chammout slips through the cracks of its background checks.

    “Uber’s actions were akin to letting a tiger loose in a shopping mall. After Uber began pairing Chammout with unsuspecting women, the question was not whether Chammout would strike, but when and against whom,” reads the lawsuit.

    As you’re likely well aware, Uber has had to deal with a plethora of incidents over the years – many of them incredibly violent. Since Uber began to spread across the country and around the world, its drivers have been accused of beating, raping, and stealing from passengers. This has led many to question the company’s background checks.

    Uber calls its background screening “rigorous,” saying “all Uber ridesharing and livery partners must go through a rigorous background check. The three-step screening we’ve developed across the United States, which includes county, federal and multi-state checks, has set a new standard. These checks go back 7 years, the maximum allowable by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We apply this comprehensive and new industry standard consistently across all Uber products, including uberX.”

    Earlier this week, a South Carolina woman said a 39-year-old sixth-grade social studies teacher moonlighting as an Uber driver sexually assaulted her.

    Image via Uber

  • Uber Driver and 6th Grade Teacher Accused of Rape

    Uber Driver and 6th Grade Teacher Accused of Rape

    Another Uber driver has been accused of raping a female passenger.

    This story comes from South Carolina, where 39-year-old Patrick Aiello has been charged with kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault. He’s been denied bail.

    According to police, Aiello drove a woman and her male companion to the latter’s Charleston home. The woman reportedly exited Aiello’s car, but changed her mind and decided she didn’t want to walk home by herself. Police say the woman asked Aiello if he could take her a few more blocks.

    Aiello complied, but instead of driving the woman to her home, he allegedly drove to a secluded area just off a highway.

    The affidavit claims that Aiello demanded sexual favors, and when the woman declined and asked to get out of the car, he attacked and sexually assaulted her.

    It gets worse. As the woman was attempting to flag down help on the highway, she was hit by a car.

    Aiello hasn’t denied engaging in sex acts with the woman, but police are calling it “forcible rape”.

    From the Post and Courier:

    Aiello was arrested just after 6 p.m. Monday at the Charleston Police Department. The arrest affidavit states that he admitted to offering the woman a ride when she was “too drunk,” and said he pulled off Savannah Highway, kissed her, performed oral sex on her and then kicked her out.

     

    Investigators wrote in the affidavit that the woman was having trouble immediately recalling details of the assault but remembers being attacked and Aiello on top of her. The police incident report labeled the crime as “forcible rape.”

    According to WCIV, Aiello is a sixth grade social studies teacher in the area.

    Earlier this month, it was found that an Uber driver accused of rape had a criminal record and used a phony permit to obtain a license.

  • Uber Driver Accused of Rape Had Criminal Record, Used Phony Permit

    Once again, Uber is under fire for allegedly letting a rapist slip through the cracks.

    On July 25th, Uber driver Talal Ali Chammout allegedly drove a woman to her Dallas home, followed her inside, and raped her.

    Chammout has a criminal record, and served time in prison on federal weapons charges. He was just released in 2012.

    And according to a Dallas city spokesperson, Chammout didn’t even have a valid permit.

    So, why was he driving for Uber?

    “We can say with 100 percent certainty that Chammout was not permitted to be a driver in the city of Dallas,” the city spokesperson said. She also said that Dallas allows Uber to use its databases to help verify drivers, but it’s unclear if Uber did so in the case of Chammout.

    And Uber spokesperson called it a “terrible situation” and said the company is “conducting a thorough internal review and working with local officials to gather and sort through all the facts.”

    As you’re likely well aware, Uber has had to deal with a plethora of incidents over the years – many of them incredibly violent. Since Uber began to spread across the country and around the world, its drivers have been accused of beating, raping, and stealing from passengers.

    This has led many to question the company’s background checks. Just who is slipping through the cracks, so to say?

    Earlier this year, a Houston Uber driver accused of raping a passenger was found to have spent 14 years in prison.

    “Either this driver slipped past Uber’s criminal background check or Uber did discover his criminal history and decided it was OK to let him drive. Regardless, this case illustrates how trusting Uber to conduct its own criminal background checks amounts to allowing the company to decide whether or not to put this individual behind the wheel. Houston would not have allowed this now alleged rapist to drive. Uber did,” said Dave Sutton, spokesperson for watchdog group ‘Who’s Driving You?’ at the time of that incident.

    And that appears to ring true of this latest case. The city of Dallas is saying it never would’ve allowed Chammout behind the wheel – but somehow Uber did.

    Uber calls its background screening “rigorous,” saying “all Uber ridesharing and livery partners must go through a rigorous background check. The three-step screening we’ve developed across the United States, which includes county, federal and multi-state checks, has set a new standard. These checks go back 7 years, the maximum allowable by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We apply this comprehensive and new industry standard consistently across all Uber products, including uberX.

    Uber and the city of Dallas are apparently working together to figure out exactly what happened. Chammout is in Dallas County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

  • Whoopi Goldberg Now Admits Bill Cosby Looks Guilty

    Whoopi Goldberg defended Bill Cosby last week on The View. Since reviewing new information about the allegations facing the former star of The Cosby Show, Whoopi has now changed her mind.

    Goldberg has defended Cosby ever since rape allegations against him resurfaced. In a conversation with ABC’s Dan Abrams on Tuesday, she sang a different tune.

    “I’ve been taking a lot of heat for various reasons,” she said.

    More than 40 women have now come forward and accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault.

    Whoopi Goldberg asked Dan Abrams why–if Bill Cosby is guilty–has he not been arrested or jailed for his crimes.

    Abrams explained that the statute of limitations has run out.

    “That’s a shock to me,” Goldberg said. “Because I always thought that if you could take somebody to court then you could have the accuser say, ‘That’s who did it, this is what it is,’ but you’re saying that all that is left to these women is the court of public opinion.”

    “I always thought that rape cases were open-ended,” she added.

    Dan Abrams explained the current movement to remove said statute of limitations.

    “I do think that we can say to women, ‘If something happens, don’t wait,’ because what waiting does is it can make it harder to prove your case,” Whoopi Goldberg said. “If you want to get him off the street, we need you to step out, and if you step out then he can be put away.”

    Hollywood director Judd Apatow addressed Whoopi Goldberg following her most recent defense of Bill Cosby.

    Has Whoopi Goldberg now seen the light? Between her conversation with Dan Abrams and her Tweets from Judd Apatow, does she feel differently about the allegations against Bill Cosby?

    “It looks bad, Bill. Either speak up or shut up, because people know now there is a lot more out there than they thought,” she said.

    If Whoopi can be swayed, there might be hope for others, too.

    Do you agree?

  • Camille Cosby Has Not Denied Charges Against Bill. Here’s What She Did Say.

    Camille Cosby has remained silent in the wake of the release of court documents in which her husband Bill Cosby admits procuring drugs for women he intended to have sex with.

    Camille Cosby has long stood behind her husband as he fought a very public and very embarrassing battle with as many as forty different women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. At this point, one would think Camille Cosby might at least have an opinion about Bill intending to have sex with other women, and buying Quaaludes for them, even if he never went through with it.

    When the scandal first got huge last year, Camille Cosby said she believed her husband to be the victim of these accusations.

    “None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking a victim. But the question should be asked – who is the victim?”

    After the release of those court documents, Judd Apatow was asked by Esquire Magazine for a response to the information. Apatow also called out Camille Cosby.

    “I don’t think there is anything new here. It is only new to people who didn’t believe an enormous amount of women who stated clearly that he drugged them. We shouldn’t need Bill Cosby to admit it to believe forty people who were victimized by him. I am sure there are many victims who have not come forward. Maybe now more people in show business and all around our country will stand up and tell the people he attacked that we support you and believe you. I also hope Camille Cosby and Phylicia Rashad will now stand with the victims and not with their attacker.”

    Perhaps now is a good time to review what Camille Cosby has said. In her statement, she never categorically denied that Bill Cosby did what he was accused of. She simply said he was “the man you thought you knew,” meaning the public.

    She also said she does not know the man she has seen portrayed in the media for months. She also bemoaned that the alleged victims accusing Cosby had not been “vetted.”

    In none of this does she deny. She just claims ignorance, bewilderment, and frustration. Here is her statement in full.

    “The man I met, and fell in love with, and whom I continue to love, is the man you all knew through his work. He is a kind man, a generous man, a funny man, and a wonderful husband, father and friend. He is the man you thought you knew.

    “A different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. It is the portrait of a man I do not know. It is also a portrait painted by individuals and organizations whom many in the media have given a pass. There appears to be no vetting of my husband’s accusers before stories are published or aired. An accusation is published, and immediately goes viral.

    “None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking a victim. But the question should be asked – who is the victim?”

  • Bill Cosby Drugged Women And Had Sex With Them, Comedian Tried To Hide Court Documents

    Bill Cosby had consistently rebuffed allegations made by over 30 women that he drugged and raped them.

    However, a Pennsylvania judge opened a declaration from The Cosby Show star, confessing that he did indeed offer powerful sedatives to women so he could have sex with them.

    The 77-year-old comedian/actor submitted a legal deposition back in 2005 after a woman named Andrea Constand accused him of drugging her and forcing her to have sex with him.

    In court, the comedian/actor was questioned by Constand’s lawyer, Dolores Troiani, about Quaaludes and his reason for obtaining the drug. He was asked whether they were indeed for the young women he wanted to have sex with.

    The deposition, which was made public at the request of The Associated Press, revealed that Cosby said “yes” to attorney Troiani’s question.

    Cosby also went on to describe meeting a woman back stage in Las Vegas during the 70s in his testimony. He was between ages 38 to 39 back then.

    The woman’s name, which was not revealed, was given Quaaludes from Cosby and they had sex after.

    However, Bill Cosby’s description of the events matched the accusations made by a Therese Serignese, who claimed she was a 19-year-old model at the time of the alleged assault. Serignese said she kept quiet in the 70s knowing it would be hard to pin down the highly regarded comedy legend.

    Cosby’s lawyers had contested the release of the testimony, arguing that such a detailed narrative would disclose private information about the actor’s private life as well as his use of prescription drugs.

    Bill Cosby and his lawyers reasoned that the testimony might be used against him by the women who have filed defamation charges against the actor.

    Nevertheless, U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno decided to open parts of the document as under federal court rules, depositions must be opened after two years if a party can show certain danger. Judge Robreno decided that Cosby’s possible humiliation was not enough to seal the documents permanently.

  • Kenan Thompson Takes A Jab At Bill Cosby, Calls Him A ‘Monster’

    Comedian Kenan Thompson reportedly had some choice words to say about Bill Cosby.

    The Saturday Night Live member had a standup gig at the University of Pittsburgh last Monday. In addition to having his audience rolling in the aisle with laughter over his antics and impersonations, Thompson also got serious and talked about career struggles, his marijuana use, some social issues and Bill Cosby.

    According to the university’s student paper The Pitt News, Thompson credited the legendary funny man as one of his inspirations but he also called him a “monster” for the series of sexual assault allegations that were leveled against him.

    But there was more that the school paper didn’t touch on. According to a post by Reddit user Definitely_Ambiguous, when Thompson “brought, like, his mom to see Cosby and he was creepy and bounced her on his lap and said something about horse riding like a kiddie..” Thompson also noticed something hinky about the veteran actor’s comments to him during his Fat Albert stint but didn’t read anything into it. Until the allegations started coming out.

    The embattled actor has repeatedly faced allegations of sexual assault for years. But the issue came to light again as a result of social media. Since then, the public has been treated to accusations from women who claim that the Cosby Show’s father figure drugged them before forcing himself on them.

    Thompson might be disappointed at Cosby, but he kept his comments relatively “light” as he did the Cosby impersonations he’s known for.

    While public perception might have turned against Cosby, the man still has his supporters. Among them is comedian Eddie Murphy. The voice of Donkey was asked to impersonate Cosby on SNL‘s 40th anniversary episode but he was said to have turned it down. Cosby later thanked him for that.

  • Uber Driver Accused of Rape Spent 14 Years in Prison

    A Houston Uber driver accused a raping a passenger has a criminal record, and had just been released from prison three years ago, according to reports.

    57-year-old Duncan Eric Burton has been arrested and charged with sexual assault after allegedly taking a woman back to his apartment and raping her in January.

    According to court documents, the last thing the woman remembers is being at a bar with a couple of friends on January 26. According to her friends, she was pretty drunk (“Ill and throwing up”), so they called an Uber and gave the driver (Burton) her address.

    The Houston Press blog picks it up from there:

    The woman told the officer that “the last thing she recalls is being at the club with the two friends, ordering one round of drinks, and then has no recollection of anything after, until waking up the next morning, alone, in an unfamiliar apartment,” according to the affidavit. She went to Memorial Hermann Southwest to have a sexual assault exam conducted.

    When the officer contacted Burton, the Uber driver said that she did not live at the address on her driver’s license, but had moved around the corner, the affidavit states. But when the woman knocked “on an unknown apartment door…a male answered, advising [the woman] that she did not live there,” according to the affidavit.

    Because Burton “was unable to get an exact address” for the woman, he took her to his apartment off Wilcrest Drive, the affidavit states.

    It’s at his apartment where police say Burton “admitted to performing oral sex, vaginal sex, and anal sex with [her].” The victim says she has absolutely no memory of the Uber ride, the sexual assault, or even Burton himself.

    Now, the Houston Chronicle is reporting that Burton had a criminal record. Uber, as you may know, claims to perform extensive background checks on all of its drivers.

    According to the Chronicle, Burton served 14 years for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. He was released in 2012 after serving only part of his original 18-year sentence. And Uber spokesperson told the Chronicle that Burton has passed the company’s background checks.

    Of course, this raises a couple of questions – mainly how? and who let that slide by?

    Watchdog group Who’s Driving You highlights the pickle this puts Uber in:

    “Either this driver slipped past Uber’s criminal background check or Uber did discover his criminal history and decided it was OK to let him drive. Regardless, this case illustrates how trusting Uber to conduct its own criminal background checks amounts to allowing the company to decide whether or not to put this individual behind the wheel. Houston would not have allowed this now alleged rapist to drive. Uber did,” said Dave Sutton, spokesperson for ‘Who’s Driving You?’.

    Uber has called its background check “rigorous”.

    “All Uber ridesharing and livery partners must go through a rigorous background check. The three-step screening we’ve developed across the United States, which includes county, federal and multi-state checks, has set a new standard. These checks go back 7 years, the maximum allowable by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We apply this comprehensive and new industry standard consistently across all Uber products, including uberX,” said the company in a blog post.

    But it’s not just abut background checks. In Houston, there appears to be a backlog when it comes to getting Uber drivers up to speed with the latest city permits.

    Listen to what and Uber spokesperson told Houston Press:

    “When the city implemented its permitting process, thousands of driver partners were already using the Uber platform to make a living. We have been working closely with the city to move these drivers through the permitting process as quickly as possible, and every week hundreds of drivers complete the process, but the system is not designed to quickly and efficiently issue permits to a large volume of applicants.”

    Apparently, Uber is struggling to get its drivers the proper permits – a permit that likely would not have been granted to Burton.

    “Someone with a negotiated drug conviction on his or her record would not be eligible for a city-issued permit, but could appeal and attempt to receive one,” said Laura Cottingham, deputy assistant director with Houston’s Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department.

    It would be easy to pile this on top of all the other stories about Uber drivers and assault – but this one appears to be a bigger black eye for Uber. This is the first time a convicted felon seemingly slipped through the company’s background checks and wound up (allegedly) raping a passenger.

    Last month, Uber highlighted all the steps it’s taking to improve user safety.

    “Our Safety Product Team is developing more ways to put technology to work to ensure the safety of riders and drivers in key areas. We are initiating research & development on biometrics and voice verification to build custom tools for enhanced driver screening,” it said. The company has also discussed employing lie detectors during the screening process.

    On April 2, the day Uber revoked Burton’s privileges, the company poached Facebook’s Chief Security Officer.

    “We believe deeply that, alongside our driver partners, we have built the safest transportation option in 260 cities around the world,” said Philip Cardenas, Head of Global Safety, in a blog post back in December. “But we have more work to do, and we will do it. Uber is committed to developing new technology tools that improve safety, strengthen and increase the number of cities and countries where background checks are conducted and improve communication with local officials and law enforcement … Our responsibility is to leverage every smart tool at our disposal to set the highest standard in safety we can. We will not shy away from this task.”

    Just last month the story emerged of an Uber driver accused of kidnapping and rape in Philadelphia. Adding to the disturbing nature of the allegations is the fact that Uber only suspended the driver near the end of March, even though the alleged assault took place on February 6. Uber claims that they were not notified of the incident until then and it suspended the driver immediately, so it appears the police may have forgotten to mention it to Uber.

    Still, the incidents continue to pile up, and they’re becoming more and more disturbing.

    Image via Jason Newport, Flickr Creative Commons

  • Phil Robertson ‘Rape’ Backlash: Freedom of Speech Violation?

    Phil Robertson recently used a “parable” at a prayer breakfast that left some people shocked and offended.

    As featured speaker at the prayer breakfast, Phil Robertson mused about how an atheist might feel if his “little atheist wife and two little atheist daughters” were raped and killed in front of him, then his penis was cut off and shown to him. Might he realize that there should be some diety-given standard for right and wrong that people should adhere to?

    Predictably, Phil Robertson caught hell over what he said. Even some Conservatives decided they had heard enough from this guy and did not want him to represent them any longer.

    “Phil Robertson is an embarrassment, not a hero,” Katherine Timpf wrote in The National Review, “and the socially conservative movement needs to distance itself from him immediately.”

    But Robertson fans and supporters quickly took to an age-old argument. It is the same argument that was trotted out when Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a slut.

    Phil Robertson’s free speech rights are being violated!

    Katherine Timpf answered that succinctly.

    Again, Timpf is a Conservative. She built her career and reputation on reporting from college campuses about the marginalization of young Conservatives. But she is tired of seeing the Conservative brand dragged through the mud because of people like Phil Robertson.

    But if Phil Robertson fans went after a Conservative for calling out their Duck Commander, you can imagine how they went after Huffington Post and Salon for remarks like these:

    “That the Duck Dynasty clan leader has a national platform upon which to spew bullshit is basically an indictment of our whole society.”

    “Robertson is a fearmonger who is preying upon people’s suspicion of the many atheists who live in the United States… Robertson’s words are ugly and ignorant, and the organizers, and all those who applauded him at the Prayer Breakfast in Vero Beach should be ashamed of themselves.”

    Timpf isn’t the only person to know and call out the difference between Constitutionally-guaranteed freedom from prosecution for non-slanderous speech and non-Constututionally-guaranteed freedom from ridicule for saying something stupid.

    As Timpf points out, even if Phil Robertson is boycotted to the point of losing his show, there is nothing unconstitutional about it.

  • Bill Cosby Now Has 38 Women Alleging That He Raped Them, Sunni Welles And Margie Shapiro Are The Latest Accusers

    Veteran comedian Bill Cosby finds himself accused once again of sexual assault.

    Sunni Welles and Margie Shapiro came forward on Friday accusing Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them decades ago. Welles said she was 17-years-old when she encountered Cosby, while Shapiro said she was 19.

    Welles and Shapiro are the newest addition to more than three dozen women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault.

    “He was a star. He was Bill Cosby and I buried it in my memory until all of these brave women began to come forward,” said Welles, reading her statement alongside celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred.

    The growing number of allegations, which started in 2005, has caused Cosby to lose his television projects. Numerous comedy performances were canceled since, though the comedian continues with his Far From Finished tour. In the face of churning allegations, Cosby performed in Baltimore on Friday where he was heckled by a man from the audience who stood up and screamed, “38 women spoke up and called you a rapist. 38 women!” Fans came to the comedian’s defense, telling the heckler to “Shut up!” while Cosby urged everyone to be quiet while ushers looked for the interrupter. ‘We are here to enjoy my gift. We are not here to argue. Let those people speak. We will find them and ask them to leave,’  Cosby said.

    The venue has stopped serving beverages during the show for fear of protesters who might throw  a drink at Cosby.

    Cosby wore silk pajamas in a 10-second video plugging his West Virginia show and Allred, who represents several accusers, said Cosby “appears to be treating the allegations of so many women who have spoken out previously as a joke.”

    Cosby has been charged with no crime yet, and his lawyer has dismissed the allegations. “I know people are tired of me not saying anything, but a guy doesn’t have to answer to innuendos,” Cosby told Florida Today.

    The 77-year-old refuses to stop touring, leaving promoters and theatre owners, who are liable if they break longstanding contracts with him, in an awkward position.

    Cosby is set to perform on Saturday in Charleston, West Virginia.

  • Phil Robertson ‘Rape’ Comments Now Catch Hell from Republicans

    Maybe Phil Robertson has finally gone too far.

    At a recent prayer breakfast, Phil Robertson told a now-viral story about a theoretical “atheist” and his “little atheist wife and two little atheist daughters” wherein the daughters are raped and killed, the wife is raped and decapitated, and the man’s genitals are cut off.

    When the predictable outcry came, some conservative media sources defended Phil Robertson, saying that he was just trying to prove a point.

    “He is using an extreme scenario to drive home an important point about right and wrong, and where the notion of moral relativism can ultimately lead. Robertson is telling a parable, a graphic parable, but still a parable using shock value as a way to bring home a perfectly valid point about a Godless world in which there is no Ten Commandments and by extension no basis to judge right from wrong.”

    But not everyone in the Conservative camp is willing to back the Duck Commander up on this one. In fact, some say it’s time to cut Phil Robertson loose.

    Writing for the iconic Conservative outlet The National Review, commentator and comedian Katherine Timpf titled a recent piece: “Stop Defending Phil Robertson — You’re Embarrassing Yourself”

    “Phil Robertson is an embarrassment, not a hero,” Timpf writes, “and the socially conservative movement needs to distance itself from him immediately. … Phil Robertson is an ignorant buffoon, and that many of his comments — despite the fact that he does have every right to make them — are not ones that anyone should ever want to be associated with.”

    Timpf commonly writes on topics related to sexism, racism, and environmentalism for The National Review. Her material often ridicules over-sensitivity and rampant political correctness, like her lampooning of colleges for cracking down on themed parties for fear of offending some people:

    “Come on. This is 2015. We need to be vetting even the most seemingly innocuous things for the possibility that something about them might be offensive so we don’t ever hurt someone’s feelings. Only then will the world be a better and more fun place for everyone.”

    But even a “get over it and grow up” crusader like Timpf thinks that Phil Robertson is just bad news for Conservatism.

    “Do you really want a dude who is going to publicly ruminate about the gruesome rape, murder, and castration of a man and his ‘little atheist wife and two little atheist daughters’ to be an official face of your #brand? And he is an official face. He spoke at this year’s CPAC, where he also received a free-speech award named after conservative legend Andrew Breitbart.”

    Timpf nailed what the rest of the world is saying about Phil Robertson’s comments in a single sentence.:

    “His detailed hypothetical about the brutal rape, murder, and castration of an atheist family was disturbing, and his underlying point that only a Christian could understand why these activities were wrong was ignorant.”

    As expected, her comments are not going over well with Phil Robertson’s fans and defenders. Phrases like “freedom of speech” and “Constitutional rights” are being tossed around. Timpf has no problem answering that.

    Here is the full Phil Robertson “parable,” in case you missed it.

    “Two guys break into an atheist’s home. He has a little atheist wife and two little atheist daughters. Two guys break into his home and tie him up in a chair and gag him. And then they take his two daughters in front of him and rape both of them and then shoot ’em. And they take his wife and then decapitate her head off in front of him. And they can look at him and say, ‘Isn’t it great that I don’t have to worry about being judged? Isn’t it great that there’s nothing wrong with this? There’s no right or wrong, now is it dude?’ ”

    “Then you take a sharp knife and take his manhood and hold it in front of him and say, ‘Wouldn’t it be something if this was something wrong with this? But you’re the one who says there is no God, there’s no right, there’s no wrong, so we’re just having fun. We’re sick in the head. Have a nice day.’ If it happened to them, they probably would say, ‘Something about this just ain’t right.’ “

  • Uber Driver Accused of Rape, Kidnapping in Philadelphia

    In my god what the hell are people doing news, another Uber driver has been accused of rape and kidnapping, and was apparently not suspended until at least 40 days after the alleged incident occurred – a disturbing wrinkle in an already disturbing story.

    According to Philadelphia, a woman filed a report with Philadelphia police on February 6th, the same day she says she was raped and kidnapped for over two hours. According to the report, an Uber driver pinned her arms, ripped off her pants, and raped her. He then proceeded to drive her around for two hours before letting her out of the car.

    This is bad enough, but to make things worse the driver was not suspended until just recently.

    From Philadelphia:

    The Philadelphia Police Department confirms that the investigation is still open, and that the case is being handled by the Special Victims Unit. Although the incident was reported to police more than 40 days ago, an Uber spokesperson tells us the company was unaware of the rape claim until we told them about it today. Neither Lieutenant Anthony McFadden nor Captain John Darby from Special Victims Unit was available for comment.

    So according to Uber, it had no idea about this alleged incident until Philadelphia began asking questions. That means the driver could have been giving Uber rides for the past month and a half.

    There are a few possibilities here, all of which are deeply troubling. It could be that Uber isn’t being forthcoming on the actual timeline of events, and the company willingly let an accused rapist continue to drive. This seems very unlikely. Uber has had its fair share of problems with passenger safety, but have always been quick to remove any drivers suspected of wrongdoing.

    Or it could be the Philadelphia police department never bothered to inform Uber of the incident.

    Which leads us to the question – what the hell are people doing, my god.

    Uber has provided the following statement:

    “Our thoughts and prayers are with our rider. Upon learning of the incident, we immediately reached out to the Philadelphia Police Department to assist in their investigation and support their efforts in any way we can. As the investigation continues, the driver’s access to the Uber platform has been suspended.”

    I’ve reached out to the Philadelphia Police Department and will update this article accordingly.

    Image via Jason Newport, Flickr Creative Commons

  • Bill Cosby Continues To Be The Butt Of Bill Maher’s Jokes

    The rape allegations against Bill Cosby are no laughing matter. However, it did provide some great material for comedians and satirists. During last month’s Golden Globe awards, Bill Cosby became the butt of a joke made by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Satirist Bill Maher is also fond of poking fun at Cosby’s expense. During the height of the Sony hacking scandal, Maher joked that one of the controversial films that Sony shelved was a remake of While You Were Sleeping starring Bill Cosby.

    It looks like Maher is at it again. In a recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, the satirist talked about how a speech made by Sarah Palin was criticized by Republicans. “Sean Hannity asked, ‘Did the teleprompter go down?’ The Washington Examiner questioned whether she should be included in future Republican events. And Bill Cosby said, ‘I wouldn’t drug her with your drink’,” Maher joked.

    Shortly after the episode, Bill Cosby was forced to cancel his Boston shows due to horrible weather. However, this didn’t stop protesters who gathered outside the Wilbur Theater to speak out against the comedian. “Just because the show is canceled doesn’t mean we’re going to stop protesting rape culture,” said Brandie Skorker, a 28-year-old East Boston resident and one of the protest organizers.

    It’s shaping up to be a bad week for Bill Cosby. Aside from Bill Maher’s joke, the show cancellations, and the ongoing protests, another accuser has come forward saying that Cosby harassed her. Helen Grumpel, formerly Helen Selby, said in a press conference that Bill Cosby made sexual advances and lewd gestures while she was on the set of The Cosby Show.

    According to Grumpel, she was called to the set for what she thought was another audition shortly after appearing in one episode of the show. She said she was brought to Bill Cosby’s dressing room where he then proceeded to sexually harass her.

     

  • Uber Sued by Woman Who Accused Driver of Rape in Delhi

    In December, an Uber driver in India was arrested after a female passenger accused him of rape.

    Now, that passenger is suing Uber – in a US federal court.

    The woman, who is still unidentified, is demanding unspecified damages. She also wants Uber to institute some passenger safeguards in India, including mandatory in-car video cameras.

    From Reuters:

    In the lawsuit, the woman, who resides in Delhi and was not named, called Uber the “modern day equivalent of electronic hitchhiking.”

    “Buyer beware – we all know how those horror movies end,” the suit stated.

    Uber was quick to express its disgust when reports of the crime emerged.

    “This is an abhorrent crime. Our thoughts remain with the victim who has shown tremendous courage under the circumstances,” said Uber’s Saad Ahmed at the time. “Safety is our #1 priority and in India.”

    Uber was then suspended in New Delhi.

    “We are sorry and deeply saddened by what happened over the weekend in New Delhi. Our hearts go out to the victim of this horrible crime. We have been and will continue to do everything in our power to assist the authorities to help bring the perpetrator to justice,” said Uber. “The events of this week have made us reflect on our operations in India and we are immediately undertaking a number of important actions. During this review, we will suspend operations in New Delhi.”

    Uber was later reinstated after applying for the required taxi licenses.

    Shortly after, Uber pledged to work on making to service safer worldwide.

    “We believe deeply that, alongside our driver partners, we have built the safest transportation option in 260 cities around the world,” said Philip Cardenas, Head of Global Safety, in a blog post. “But we have more work to do, and we will do it. Uber is committed to developing new technology tools that improve safety, strengthen and increase the number of cities and countries where background checks are conducted and improve communication with local officials and law enforcement.”

    This promise came about 24 hours before an Uber driver was charged with rape in Boston.

    Image via Uber, Facebook

  • Cindra Ladd: I Didn’t Remember the Rape, Cosby Didn’t Remember Me

    Cindra Ladd, wife of Hollywood producer Alan Ladd, has come forward with her own tale of sexual assault at the hand of Bill Cosby.

    In a recent piece published by Huffington Post, Cindra Ladd detailed her encounter with Cosby. Her story had shocking similarities to those told by other women in recent months.

    “I was a 21-year-old single woman in the world’s most exciting city. He was a 32-year-old internationally known comedian and television star, one of the most likable and popular entertainers in the business. He asked for my number and I gave it to him.”

    “We began hanging out, took in a movie, watched television and ate pizza and hot dogs in my apartment with my roommate,” she wrote. “He was married to his current wife [Camille Cosby] and he acted like a perfect gentleman who didn’t come on to either of us.”

    Then came the night that, according to Ladd, she received what so many other women before have recounted — a pill from Bill Cosby.

    “One night we were going out to a movie,” she wrote. “We agreed to meet at an apartment that he said belonged to a friend of his. I had a terrible headache but didn’t want to cancel the evening. He told me he had a miracle cure his doctor had given him that would get rid of the headache. He went into another room and came back with a capsule. I asked a couple of times what it was. Each time he reassured me, asking, ‘Don’t you trust me?’ Of course I did. This was Bill Cosby.”

    Cindra Ladd said she woke the next morning with only vague memories of the night before.

    “What I do recall, vividly and clearly, is waking up the next morning nude in the bed of his friend’s apartment and seeing Cosby wearing a white terrycloth bathrobe and acting as if there was nothing unusual. It was obvious to me that he had had sex with me. I was horrified, embarrassed and ashamed. There was a mirror above the bed, which shocked me further.”

    “It never occurred to me to go to the police,” she said. “It was a different time and ‘date rape’ was a concept that didn’t exist. I just kept asking myself over and over in disbelief why this had happened to me. Other than my roommate, I did not discuss that night with anyone for 36 years.”

    Some will ask why Cindra Ladd is coming forward now. She addresses that in a very straightforward manner.

    “This is the first time I have chosen to speak out about that night. It is also the last time I intend to address it publicly. I have no plans to sue, I don’t want or need money. I have no plans for a press conference or for doing any interviews. So why speak out at all and why now? The simple answer is that it’s the right thing to do. The truth deserves to be known.”

    While Cindra Ladd’s account of the incident is shocking enough, there is an insult added to the alleged injury.

    “I have crossed paths with Cosby only once, when my husband, a highly successful Oscar-winning film executive and producer, introduced me to him. I was shaking, wondering if he would recognize me by my unusual first name. His reaction spoke volumes. To Bill Cosby, I was just another stranger.”

  • Cindra Ladd, Former Entertainment Executive, Says Bill Cosby Raped Her Back In 1969

    The long list of alleged victims of comedian Bill Cosby has another entry. In an emotional piece on The Huffington Post, Cindra Ladd, a former entertainment executive revealed how Cosby drugged and raped her back in 1969, when she was only 21 years old.

    Ladd is married to Academy Award-winning producer Alan Ladd Jr., and it took her decades to finally reveal the ordeal to her husband. Ladd wrote about the beginnings of her relationship with the then 32-year-old comedian. Already an internationally known comedian during that time, Ladd was lured to Cosby’s charm. After hanging out one night, Ladd met up with Cosby at an apartment of a friend of his. Ladd had a headache, prompting Cosby to offer her a capsule. When Ladd asked about the medicine, Cosby assured her that it was a “miracle cure.”

    The rest of the night was a blur for Ladd. She woke up naked and saw the comedian a “white terrycloth bathrobe and acting as if there was nothing unusual.” She quickly left and broke down crying inside the elevator.

    After more than 40 years of keeping the incident a secret, Ladd felt that it was time to speak out after more than two dozen other victims have publicly pointed out Cosby’s history of sexual abuse. Former supermodels Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson recently came forward, alleging that Cosby raped them.

    Ladd tried to avoid Cosby, but their paths eventually crossed when his husband introduced her to the comedian. “I was shaking, wondering if he would recognize me by my unusual first name,” she wrote. “His reaction spoke volumes. To Bill Cosby, I was just another stranger.”

    Cosby has not been charged with a crime and he continuously dismissed all allegations. His attorney, Marty Singer called out the allegations as “discredited” and “defamatory.” Cosby is currently doing a comedy tour around America despite the backlash.

  • Roman Polanski: Underage Rape Victim Forgives Him

    Roman Polanski is 81 years old. For almost half his life he has been unable to set foot in the United States because of a conviction on charges of raping an underage girl.

    Roman Polanski is highly regarded as a filmmaker. Even though he can not work in the United States, many actors come to him to work on projects.

    Roman Polanski’s victim, a 13-year-old girl who is now 51 years old herself, wrote a book about her experience and her unwillingness to let her life be defined by the incident. The book was called The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski. The Amazon description of the book by Samantha Geimer tells the tale of the incident:

    “March 1977, Southern California. Roman Polanski drives a rented Mercedes along Mulholland Drive to Jack Nicholson’s house. Sitting next to him is an aspiring actress, Samantha Geimer, recently arrived from York, Pennsylvania. She is thirteen years old.

    “The undisputed facts of what happened in the following hours appear in the court record: Polanski spent hours taking pictures of Samantha—on a deck overlooking the Hollywood Hills, on a kitchen counter, topless in a Jacuzzi. Wine and Quaaludes were consumed, balance and innocence were lost, and a young girl’s life was altered forever—eternally cast as a background player in her own story.

    “For months on end, the Polanski case dominated the media in the United States and abroad. But even with the extensive coverage, much about that day—and the girl at the center of it all—remains a mystery. Just about everyone had an opinion about the renowned director and the girl he was accused of drugging and raping. Who was the predator? Who was the prey? Was the girl an innocent victim or a cunning Lolita artfully directed by her ambitious stage mother? How could the criminal justice system have failed all the parties concerned in such a spectacular fashion? Once Polanski fled the country, what became of Samantha, the young girl forever associated with one of Hollywood’s most notorious episodes? Samantha, as much as Polanski, has been a fugitive since the events of that night more than thirty years ago.”

    Now Samantha Geimer is announcing to the world that she actually forgives Roman Polanski.

    “I have absolutely forgiven [Polanski],” Samantha, 51, told The National Enquirer. “I feel like he owned up to what he did. He pleaded guilty and served his sentence and, although he fled, he was fleeing a corrupt and unethical judge. If they subpoenaed me, I’d have to appear, but I wouldn’t otherwise cooperate in any prosecution of Roman Polanski.”

    Polanski has recently tried to get a new trial in the case, but that has been denied.

  • Katherine McKee: Sammy Davis Jr’s Ex Says Cosby Raped Her

    Katherine McKee describes herself as Sammy Davis, Jr.’s “road wife.” She says that Bill Cosby knew this. But she said he assaulted her anyway.

    “[Bill Cosby] was a buddy. He knew I was Sammy’s girl,” she told the New York Daily News. She said she was in hotel room in Detroit in the early 70s, about to go out to a party on a boat at Cosby’s invitation. Sammy Davis was not around. McKee says Cosby had asked her to get some ribs for them to eat and to pick him up at the hotel

    “I remember I walked in the door, and he had a robe and cap on. He took the ribs from my hands and just grabbed me,” McKee said “He spun me around, pulled my panties down, and just took it. We were still standing at the door when he attacked me. It was so fast and so shocking and so unbelievable.”

    McKee says that Cosby acted very differently during this experience than she had seen him before. Other women describe their alleged sexual assault encounters with Cosby similarly.

    “To me, there was a different personality involved,” McKee said. “He was a different man. It felt like a different person performing that act.”

    “I never said a word. I was too uncomfortable about it,” she said. “Bill was so rude and cold toward me the rest of the night. I thought, ‘When this boat docks, I’m out of here.’ I just left.”

    She said she never told Sammy Davis about the incident. “I didn’t want to put that in Sammy’s head,” McKee said.

    She said that her silence and behavior following the alleged incident did not change the fact that it was a rape.

    “It was a rape, but it seemed so strange to call it that. We think of rape as a stranger who attacks you in a parking lot,” she said.

    “I chalked it up to another powerful person in Hollywood who just felt he could take what he wanted from women.”

    She says she felt guilty, wondering for a while if she had somehow brought it on.

    “I was mad at my own self for not saying, ‘What the fuck?’ Why didn’t I stop it and get him away from me? But it happened too fast. I was absolutely flabbergasted,” she said.

    “And I had the guilt. I questioned myself, ‘Why did I go there? Why did I bring him those ribs? Maybe he thought that’s what I wanted too?’”

    McKee says it was all the other women coming forward with allegations against Cosby that made her break her own silence.

    “I figured, ‘If I don’t think about it, it won’t bother me.’ Of course, with all these women surfacing now, it flushed it out,” said McKee.

  • Uber Driver Charged with Rape As Company Promises to Make Service Safer

    Yesterday, Uber made a promise to make the service safer, by focusing more attention of background checks for drivers and employing new technology to make sure customers get the safest ride possible.

    Today, another Uber driver has been charged with rape.

    Police say 46-year-old Alejandro Done has been arraigned in Boston on assault and battery and rape charges after he allegedly picked up a woman, took her to a secluded area, and beat her before sexually assaulting her.

    From CBS Boston:

    Authorities say on December 6, the victim was waiting for a ride-sharing driver at a residence on Tremont Street in Boston. When the victim got into the car, the driver told her that he would need a cash payment for the ride, so he brought her to an ATM. The driver then allegedly drove to a location the passenger was not familiar with, pulled over in a secluded area and jumped in the backseat where she was sitting.

    “He allegedly struck her with his hands, strangled her, locked the car doors so that she could not escape and covered her mouth so she could not scream,” according to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office. “During an ensuing physical struggle, the defendant allegedly sexually assaulted the woman.”

    Uber has issued a statement via a spokeswoman, saying “This is a despicable crime and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim during her recovery. Uber has been working closely with law enforcement and will continue to do everything we can to assist their investigation.” And according to Uber, Done was not the driver scheduled to pick up the victim – he picked her up while she was waiting for her real driver. It is possible that Done was able to find the victim based on his prior Uber activities.

    “We believe deeply that, alongside our driver partners, we have built the safest transportation option in 260 cities around the world,” said Philip Cardenas, Head of Global Safety, in a blog post from less than 24 hours ago. “But we have more work to do, and we will do it. Uber is committed to developing new technology tools that improve safety, strengthen and increase the number of cities and countries where background checks are conducted and improve communication with local officials and law enforcement.”

    According to Uber, Done had passed a background check.

    Image via Uber, Facebook

  • Evin Cosby Defends Her Dad On Facebook

    Evin Cosby, daughter of embattled comedian Bill Cosby, has added her voice to those defending her father against allegations of rape.

    Evin Cosby’s mother, Camille Cosby, recently issued a statement of support for her husband that sought to assure the public that their image of Cosby need not change.

    “The man I met, and fell in love with, and whom I continue to love, is the man you all knew through his work. He is a kind man, a generous man, a funny man, and a wonderful husband, father and friend. He is the man you thought you knew.

    “A different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. It is the portrait of a man I do not know. It is also a portrait painted by individuals and organizations whom many in the media have given a pass. There appears to be no vetting of my husband’s accusers before stories are published or aired. An accusation is published, and immediately goes viral.

    “None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking a victim. But the question should be asked – who is the victim?”

    But some fear Camille Cosby did more harm than good with her statement, casting Bill Cosby as the victim.

    But Evin Cosby is backing her mother’s play, particularly the part where she assures the public that Cosby has not changed.

    “He is the FATHER you thought you knew,” Evin said in a statement. “The Cosby Show was my today’s tv reality show. Thank you. That’s all I would like to say :)”

    Evin Cosby’s Facebook page is strewn with comments of support for her family from fans and friends. She also uses it as a place to speak out about her father’s accusers and their press coverage.

    Post by Evin Cosby.

    In one exchange on the site, Evin spoke about the plight of those falsely accused of rape.

    “Rape is a serious allegation and it is suppose to be taken VERY seriously but so is Falsely accusing someone. When someone rapes a person they go to prison. THAT should also happen to the person that has wrongfully accused an innocent victim. They are not ONLY destroying innocent people’s life they are ALSO making it hard for the MEN and Women to find justice when they have been raped,” she wrote.

    She pointed out what she sees as flaws in the alleged victims’ stories.

    “Drugged- you can remember the whole damn day but you were drugged? Just sayin. Memory- you can remember you looked at (allegedly) eachother, people were starring allegedly remembering your home address allegedly the name you called him allegedly But you were allegedly drugged,” Evin said.

    Post by Evin Cosby.