In this Nov. 18, 2013, file photo, actor-comedian Bill Cosby poses for a portrait in New York.Why is it the more prominent the authority figures, the less likely they'll face serious consequences for their sexual actions?
Less than 20 years ago, a president of the United States had numerous accusers alleging unwanted sexual advances toward them. In the end, Bill Clinton paid one former accuser $850,000 in an out-of-court settlement and was cited publicly for lying under oath, fined $90,000 and had his Arkansas law license suspended for five years in another case. Pretty small potatoes when you're a rich politician with influential friends.
Today, the ex-president enjoys massive popularity within Democratic Party partisans and general good bonhomie from many Americans.
In recent weeks, the drumbeat has gotten louder with accusations of unwanted sexual advances and activity against actor and comedian Bill Cosby.
The allegations are of both recent vintage and stretch back nearly 50 years. They range from awkward kisses and gropes to rapes.
Cosby has admitted paying a woman with whom he had an affair $100,000 and setting up a trust fund in her name, but experts say the widely admired former Jello pitchman is unlikely to face charges from any of those currently unearthing allegations.
Meanwhile, three revered Calhoun, Ga., High School sports stars have been indicted in connection with an attack of a fellow student at a post prom party earlier this year, and a valued now-former employee of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum was arrested last week and charged in connection with the aggravated statutory rape of a teenage boy.
The chances of the Calhoun teens and the TVRM employee being tried and found guilty will weigh, as they should, on the evidence in a potential trial. But their chances of receiving a guilty verdict are much higher than the likes of Clinton, Cosby and litany of other celebrities such as Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Marv Albert, Kobe Bryant, R Kelly and Anthony Weiner, who either got away with sexual crimes or were given light sentences.
Money and power, after all, buy the best lawyers, experienced publicists and lots of good will.
The Clinton episode wasn't so long ago that most people don't remember the chatter. Defender and aide James Carville, for instance, said of accuser Paula Jones: "Drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you'll find."
If he denied such allegations, many Americans thought, that settles it.
Actress Whoopi Goldberg, "The Cosby Show" co-star Raven Symoné, actress Stacey Dash and saxophonist Tony Williams, among others, have come to the defense of Cosby.
Not Cool Cos, not Cliff Huxtable, not the man who made Fat Albert a household name, they said. C'mon, it's just not possible.
It's likely there are parents and fellow employees saying the same thing about the accused Calhoun rapists and the former TVRM guide. But they're unable to buy as much influence as the big boys.
So how do men - and it happens occasionally with a female teacher and an underage student - learn to take this type of advantage - with the supposed authority of a politician, a celebrity or a sports star - of someone?
Is it parenting? Peer pressure? The fact they have been abused themselves?
"No single factor or combination of factors can fully explain why someone offends sexually, though some factors may combine to increase people's tendency to offend," says a fact sheet from the Center for Sex Offender Management.
The information additionally explains "there is no such thing as a 'typical' sex offender." And "the reasons why they offend, the kinds of interventions required to help them stop offending, and the risks they pose also vary."
No one wants to see a proliferation of false abuse cases - recall the Rev. Al Sharpton's unrelenting defense of Tawana Brawley, who falsely accused six men of raping her in 1987, and the Duke lacrosse case, when three members of the Duke University team were falsely accused of raping a coed from another school in 2006.
But this not a problem that is likely to go away on its own, and it is certain the problem will continue until the likes of Clintons and the Cosbys - if proven guilty - receive the same justice as the alleged Calhoun rapists and the TVRM employee - if proven guilty. No matter the perpetrator, rich or poor, powerful or unknown, undesired sexual advances are always just that - undesired.