Suzi Godson: He may well be an ignorant oaf with a dodgy habit. But ladies, please...

Some of the women Leslie groped were upset, but none said anything until they had more to gain from fame by association

Being a celebrity who likes sex is like being a kid in a candy store. Power is an aphrodisiac and fame brings unbelievable pulling opportunities, even to the most unattractive of men. Look at Robin Cook, for God's sake. Unlike the ginger gnome, television presenter John Leslie, cleared last week of sexual assault charges, didn't need a bag over his head and he was perceived as charming and entertaining. Women were flattered when he paid attention to them and by all accounts Leslie made the most of it. In truth, party organisers, PR girls and event managers had long been aware that Leslie had a reputation for being more than flirtatious, but people looked in the other direction because at the end of the day he wasn't forcing women to have sex with him.

The reality is that most of the women he encountered were perfectly willing to be wined and dined by a TV celebrity who had dated a Darling Bud of May. It was fame by association. Something to tell the girls in the office. Reporter Tessa Boase, who didn't accuse Leslie of assault, admits that she read up on all his press cuttings before her dinner date with him. She was 24 at the time and trekked 20 miles on public transport to his flat in Barnes where she drank warm wine and ate take-away pizza from the box before being forced to watch his latest series on video. Absolutely criminal. She then allowed herself to be seduced by a man she describes as "not a loving lover, or a considerate lover", someone who "prefers unprotected sex" and "carries around in his head some pretty pedestrian pornographic fantasies". But she admits she went back for more.

Anyone who has experienced the celebrity social circuit is well aware that getting pissed, getting laid and, for some people, taking cocaine go hand in hand. In those situations, women are constantly dealing with unwanted sexual attention but unless the incident is particularly traumatic, most of it is brushed aside or put down to experience. Which is just as well, because the police can't cope with the serious cases, let alone any others. Only 7 per cent of rapes are reported and fewer than one in 13 of those ends in conviction. Some of the women Leslie groped may have been upset by the experience, but the fact remains that none of them said anything about it until they had more to gain from fame by association with an assault charge. It brought the attention of the tabloid press who were willing to talk to anyone who might have a story to tell about John Leslie. Some preferred to talk to the press, but baulked at thorough investigation of their accounts by the police. Other stories which were checked by Scotland Yard fell down, leaving Leslie to be charged with just one offence. That too fell apart.

Leslie may well be an ignorant oaf or a sex addict with a coke habit (and the two often go together) but the claims against him remain unsubstantiated. He has endured gossip about his behaviour ever since Ulrika Jonsson alleged in a television documentary linked to publication of her autobiography that an unnamed celebrity raped her. Months of innuendo, allegation and police investigation have left Leslie abandoned by many of his friends and, with his career apparently in tatters, his only consolation that after his ordeal a judge has told him that he can leave court without a "single stain on his character".

What Leslie's career tells us is that the trade-off which occurs between a celebrity who wants to get his rocks off and an ordinary person who wants some kudos is mutually beneficial. And the press's gushing about Abby Titmuss, Leslie's devoted girlfriend of the past nine months, being his rock hasn't been a bad move for her either. Titmuss met Leslie in a nightclub four years ago when she was a student nurse living in hospital accommodation in London, earning approximately £2.70 an hour. Leslie's £250,000 salary, his £1.5m home (admittedly in East Sheen) and his fame must have made him hugely attractive. But when she moved in with him within a year, Titmuss admits that she couldn't cope with women constantly propositioning Leslie for sex, women who wanted to be linked to fame.

John Leslie may well have exploited women for sexual pleasure, but there's no doubt that they exploited him too.