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MORE PEOPLE WHO say they were abused by Rolf Harris have come forward after the entertainer was found guilty of indecent assault yesterday.
The National Society for the Protection of Children in the UK said that it had received 28 calls to its helpline in connection with Harris. Of these, 13 people said they had been abused by him.
Harris is due to be sentenced on Friday after he was found guilty of all 12 counts of indecent assault against four girls between the years 1968 and 1986.
The complainants ranged in age from seven or eight to 19, and in all but one of the cases, the victims were under 16.
The court heard that one of the victims wrote to Queen Elizabeth to warn her about Harris’s predatory behaviour as he painted the monarch’s portrait, The Independent reports.
“He ruined my life. You need to know what kind of man you’ve let near the Queen,” the woman wrote to royal staff in 2005. The note was handed to Scotland Yard’s royal protection unit which filed it but did not investigate.
The 84-year-old entertainer was warned by Judge Nigel Sweeney that it was “inevitable” that he would face a jail term.
In his native Australia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was “gutted and dismayed” by Harris’s conviction.
Speaking outside Southwark Crown Court yesterday, police praised the women who had come forward about Harris.
“Rolf Harris has habitually denied any wrongdoing forcing his victims to recount their ordeal in public,” said Detective Chief Inspector Michael Orchard of the London Metropolitan Police.
“He committed many offences in plain sight of people as he thought his celebrity status placed him above the law”.
He thanked the victims for their bravery. “I hope today’s guilty verdict will give them closure and help them to begin to move on with their lives”.
He confirmed that Scotland Yard has received a number of new allegations and these are now being considered.
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At least he is alive to take the rap for all this unlike that other Royal family jester Jimmy Savill.
Rolf Harris “My Body’s Nobody’s Body But Mine” 1985:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sduX3i9zokg
Wow, I’ve never come across that Rolf Harris video. Utterly bizarre. The irony is absolutely chilling.
How can his family support such a vile person.
He should’ve been jailed years ago for crimes against music.
Compensation hunters. I’m pretty sure there Wil be a few
Going after the red thumbs Shane, well your in a winner with that comment.
No but I’m pretty sure there’s a few looking for it
Totally agree with Shane , yes Harris deserves all he gets but why come out after the man is found guilty ? Smells of compo
Very often victims of sexual abuse have suppressed their experiences and fears for so long it takes a development such as seeing another victim come forward and achieve justice, to give them the courage to come forward themselves.
It’s harsh to veil them as compo seekers. The genuine victims will receive justice. The compo seekers will be found out.
Is it any wonder why victims of abuse keep their mouths shut when you have attitudes like yourself, shane and a couple of more commenters? It’s not up to you to assume this smells of compo. What if victims of abuse are reading your comment who have never come forward about their ordeal out of shame and fear. You think your comment is helping them? Its up to the powers that be to get the fact and then decide. To be fair to all victims of abuse its not up to us to second guess. But i’d imagine neither you, Shane or the others have ever been in that situation, so it’s easily to spurt out the first negative thing that comes to mind without knowing any of the alleged victims.
John, so called suppressed or “recovered” memories are very shaky in court and are rarely admissible, they have in the past led to miscarriages of justice, such as Satanic sexual abuse in the US. Up to 50% of people will form false memories when confronted with a false story or picture. So such circumstances there must be corroboration, a second witness.
This has happened in Harris’ case, where a mother corroborated her daughters experience at a public photo shoot, when Harris inappropriately touched her daughter art they were standing for a photo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory_syndrome
Garry, M. & Wade, K.A. 2005. Actually, a picture is worth less than 45 words: Narratives produce more false memories than photographs do. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 359–366, doi: 10.3758/BF03196385.
I never made any comment on the admissibility of evidence but rather made the point to highlight the reasons why victims come forward at some remove from the initial incident/crime.
I accept your point on the admissibility of such recovered memories. However, this should not be used as a deterrent towards victims coming forward. The statements of witnesses, whether they are directly or indirectly involved, are for the police to gather and preserve and ultimately for the courts to decide upon. Should there be a question on the admissibility of evidence, it is for a court to decide upon, nobody else.
Jumping and bandwagon come to mind.
We’re such a cynical lot always looking for the scam.
They should chop off his extra leg.
Here come the Gold diggers. It will be very hard to believe those who come forward now. Respect to the women who took the case, and they deserve what they can get from him. However, for those now saying the same happened, I may be cynical but I will find it difficult to believe they are not motivated by money.
And its attitudes like yours that prevented them coming forward in the first place.
Boganity ;You look like The Cudge !
I’m just waiting for them to announce Doctor Who was a time travelling paedo and Morph liked to fiddle with BluTac…
We should all have known that his “extra leg” would have gotten him into big trouble.
If you’re a paedophile you should get a bullet in the brain simple as. I’d happily execute peadophiles for a living!!!
No Irish entertainers would ever touch up young boys or girls, we live in good old catholic ireland.
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