In reply to The Lemming:
I really don't know and wouldn't want to guess. It is interesting that all the others that have been dragged up since as part of the investigations have been cleared, and certainly on the ones I've read up the evidence was pretty shocking at times so while it's difficult to prove something so dated it does sound like a fair trial was given. That's also hard to say and not feel bad, the crimes they've been accused of are horrendous and there's still a stigma attached due to how poor treatment from the legal system and the public has been for women that suffered similar in the past. However that makes it more rather than less convincing that a trial has cleared them.
A thing to note though, there's no doubt whatsoever that JS was creepy as hell, but while I would cautiously say that it does seem people that appear something are more likely than not to be that thing (in this case a creepy perv, but it goes for a lot of things), but at the same time judging someone guilty of such terrible crimes based on the books cover is dangerous and hugely damaging if they're innocent.
There's an old guy in a little town that was accused, in my mind knowing him quite well, of trying it on with a 15 year old girl recently. Realistically he's fairly socially awkward and overcompensates at times by very obviously making deliberate attempts at being polite and social. From knowing him and witnesses that saw the 'event' he complimented the girl who was an aquaintenances daughter, she told her dad (who's now just been arrested for beating the sht out of a lass he was seeing...the second in the last year...so you can assume he's quite inflamatory). The dad not only reacted pretty viciously but told a lot of scrotes in the area about it and the poor bloke was hounded. I personally have had to walk him home because some young lads were openly waiting for him to leave the pub.
ok, one example and thankfully nothing bad happened except some comments and the poor bloke getting spat in the face a couple of times. But that could have easily ended up with him in hospital or dead if a couple of us hadn't been involved. So a warning on judging folks on how they come across.
