Coronation Street Star William Roachy in Rape Arrest

British Coronation Street actor William Roachy has been arrested in connection with an alleged rape 50 years ago, approximately the same number of years that Mr. Roachy has been involved with the popular television soap. The now 81 year old Roachy is being held in Lancashire Constabulary. The police is encouraging anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse to come forward, and assures that cases will be handled properly.

Recently Mr.Roachy had to apologize for making insensitive remarks when openly sticking up for sexual offenders. He also believes that it is important for people accused of sexual crimes to keep their anonymity in case they are proven innocent, since sexual offenders are very likely to be stigmatize by society.

Opinion:

It is good news that sexual offenders can't get away with their crimes even decades after having committed them. Specially in the case of William Roachy it is important that he faces his crime, since he is a public figure in a popular television show. Proceeding with this investigation and eventually prosecuting this suspect can confirm people's faith in the justice system, since there doesn't seem to be a statue of limitation for a crime even if committed many years ago, and the suspect is a famous actor. Nevertheless the danger may be that because Roachy has been a part of the viewers life for so long there may be a lack of objectivity from the part of the public which in some way can detract from the seriousness of the situation. When it comes to television people often have difficulty drawing the line between reality and fantasy and trying a popular actor may become a soap series in itself.