BALTIMORE — Bill Cosby claimed victory Wednesday as he was released from a prison in Philadelphia.
Releasing a statement saying in part “I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence” and going on to thank his fans, supporters, friends and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Turnaround Inc. responds to nearly 2,000 hotline calls a year in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
Jean Henningsen is the director of Strategic Initiatives for Turnaround Inc.
“We tend to see spikes in folks who are reaching out after really high profile cases like this,” Henningsen said. “It can be really triggering and we’re already in a time period that has been triggering for survivors.”
The court ruled that Cosby’s due process rights were violated.
In 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home.
The decision on Wednesday drew quick backlash from critics on social media.
Many upset with his former costar Phylicia Rashad who tweeted that a miscarriage of Justice was corrected.
Hours later she tweeted that she supports survivors of sexual assault coming forward.
While domestic violence cases calls have increased in the area— the amount of sexual violence and human traffic volume has dipped.
“It’s not that it has reduced, if anything similar to domestic violence it’s probably increased,” Henningsen said. “Folks just haven’t had the ability to reach and get help or haven’t been sure where to go.”
For survivors the first step is reaching out to have your voice heard and to get help.
“We hear of folks who were victimized as children,” Henningsen said. “It may have been many many years ago but it took a long time for them to reach out. That process of coming forward was really difficult for them to get through.”
Turnaround has a 24/7 hotline. If you or anyone needs help you can call 443-279-3709.
Or you can text if it’s not safe to call at 410-498-5956.
For more info click here.
