With her father about to go on trial in Pennsylvania for sexual assault, the youngest daughter of Bill Cosby has come to the TV icon’s defense. In an opinion piece written for the National Newspaper Publishers Association and published today, Evin Cosby writes that her father “is not abusive, violent or a rapist.”

Jury selection is set to start next month in Bill Cosby’s trial stemming from an incident in 2004 in which he’s accused of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand. Dozens of other women have made similar accusations against the comedian, but the Constand case is the only one to move toward a criminal trial.

“The public persecution of my dad, my kids’ grandfather, and the cruelty of the media and those who speak out branding my father a ‘rapist’ without ever knowing the truth and who shame our family and our friends for defending my dad, makes all of this so much worse for my family and my children,” Evin Cosby writes.

She adds: “Instead of going through the criminal justice system, these stories never got investigated and just got repeated. They have been accepted as the truth. My dad tried to defend himself. His lawyers tried to defend him, but they all got sued.”

Evin Cosby acknowledges that her father has had affairs. “Sure, like many celebrities tempted by opportunity, he had his affairs, but that was between him and my mother,” she writes. “They have worked through it and moved on, and I am glad they did for them and for our family.”

She adds: “I am pleased that finally we are seeing the whole picture and seeing cases and claims dismissed from court. I just hope that those who pre-judged my dad are now willing to admit that they were wrong.”