The 83-year-old comedian and actor was freed on Wednesday after Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned a 2018 verdict that found him guilty of sexual assault.
Activists, who had celebrated his conviction as a watershed moment, strongly condemned the new decision.
“When the system disregards dozens of accusers in a situation like this – because of a technical loophole, not because of the proof that led to sentencing – it creates the perception that it’s ‘not worth it’ for victims to come forward,” said Women in Film, a non-profit group that advocates for equal opportunity in entertainment.
The group called on “everyone in a position of power in the screen industries to put an end to the culture of silence and acceptance that allowed Cosby to prey on so many women”.
Time’s Up, an organisation founded in 2018 after allegations of sexual assault and rape by producer Harvey Weinstein, said Cosby’s survivors “came forward with great courage against a powerful man at great personal risk”.
“We hope this ruling does not deter other survivors from speaking out because we need to build better accountability measures and ways to hold perpetrators accountable,” said Tina Tchen, CEO of the Time’s Up Foundation. “But it’s hard when you see results like this happen.”
Cosby had been found guilty of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, an employee at his alma mater Temple University, in his home in 2004.
More than 50 women had accused Cosby of multiple sexual assaults over nearly five decades, but Constand’s allegations were the only ones that were not too old to allow for criminal charges.
He was released after serving more than two years of a three- to 10-year sentence.
After his release, Cosby posted a statement on Twitter, saying: “I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence.”
Lisa Bloom, who represented three of Cosby’s accusers, advises sexual assault victims that “the system still massively favours the rich and powerful”.
“You need a superhuman level of strength and courage,” she said on Twitter. “Luckily many victims have it. Any other Cosby victims, time to come forward.”