Something I think we should teach ourselves to do is never believe we know someone until we see their character tested. It's very easy to present as having good character under typical circumstances, but much harder when you're pressured by stress, duress, lust, impulse, or other forces. A good measure of someone's character is how they respond to these things, not only how they function in ideal circumstances.

Of course, there are more common measures like how they treat people they don't necessarily need to respect, but even that can be conjured on demand according to situational needs by cunning people. Getting to know people and drawing conclusions about them should be a longer process than it tends to be.

Money and sycophancy also corrupt behavior. Another measure of character, is the response to being broke.

In any case Bill Cosby on TV was a good role model -in life, out of the public eye, he was a bad dude who drugged and SA'd victims. The public has little chance to "know" him. One might hear rumors but one needs factual info to make judgements.

> On the evening news parents or neighbors will often say “he seemed like a nice kid; I never saw him do anything bad.”

If you're ever interviewed by the news, you have a moral imperitive to say "They were always such a good kid. I would have never suspected this." regardless of if you know the kid, or you would have suspected it. A) who needs reporters in neighborhoods digging up dirt like this. B) if it were you, or your kids, you'd want people to say the same thing for you.

Well, when I hear "people have personae" I'd imagine something like "This person is an esteemed professor at MIT but he's also a regular in erotic fanfiction forum," not "he's friends with a child sex trafficker."