GUILTY UK - Rolf Harris for molesting underage girls, child *advertiser censored*, 2013

[Mrs G Norris]

Rolf Harris tells court that he is innocent of indecent assault charges, admits legal-age affairs

ROLF Harris has accused one of his alleged indecent assault victims of instigating a sexual relationship with him when she was 18 with her “flirtatious and coquettish” invitations.

And its been revealed for the first time the entertainer also had a sexual relationship with a female lodger aged in her mid-30s while she was living on the same property with he and his wife Alwen.

The 84-year-old entertainer yesterday took to the witness stand at Southwark Crown Court in central London to declare his innocence he indecently assaulted four women over a 20-year period, at least three of who were under age.

Harris began evidence in an animated way, chuckling as he described his early days as an entertainer and even sung a verse of his song Jake the Peg to remind the jury of his fame and popularity.

http://www.news.com.au/world/rolf-h...legalage-affairs/story-fndir2ev-1226933748436

I mean ..

Earlier in his lengthy testimony, Harris said he was a “touchy feely person” but not a sexual abuser.

 

[Lyra500]

I have to say I find his explanation of how he came to have a sexual relationship with his daughter's best friend highly suspect.

The inference that she was the instigator just annoys me so much.

The man was in his fifties - any decent man worth his salt would know exactly how to respond to a teenage girl with a crush - and the honourable response is not to leap into bed with her. That is if you actually believe she was the instigator and I find it hard to believe she was.

JMOO

 

[Mrs G Norris]

I agree it's revolting. I can't believe he sung Jake the Peg on the stand .. what 'with his extra leg diddle diddle diddle dum' .. does he think he's cute?

 

[zwiebel]

Zweibel, you think -maybe- a team of police detectives and prosecutors might be able to verify the appearance, though?

I just find it crummy that they're putting an alleged indecent forward as evidence and can't put a specific date on it.. or even a year!... despite that the event and its lineup surely cannot be *impossible* to dig up.

It seems efforts --were-- made to find corroborating evidence of these appearances:

Det Sgt Pankhurst said that the alleged victim had not been entirely sure of the date, but "1975 was clearly she felt the most certain".

Another woman claimed Mr Harris touched her intimately when she was seven or eight after she queued to get his autograph at a community centre near Portsmouth in 1969.

No confirmation could be found that Mr Harris had been there, despite searches of local newspaper archives, council records and letter drops appealing for witnesses.

This included looking at copies of the Portsmouth News between January 1967 and May 1974.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27541102


See, what bothers me there is this -- I met a very few famous people in my childhood. In a pinch, I couldn't tell you the dates off the top of my head, and I doubt they were well-documented. But I ---wasn't there on my own-- and I am sure that had one of these celebrities molested me, the presence of said celebrity (even at an obscure event 35 years ago in the middle of *nowhere* Australia) could be easily enough verified by naming a few locals who were also present.

Was no-one else there? It just seems very strange to me.

If there was a thorough search of those newspaper archives and nothing was found.....I don't know what to say.

I would have thought his old agent would also have details, possibly the taxman, and possibly diehard fans. Or just locals who dropped in and took a photo.?

But I don't know how many resources were devoted to researching this case, by prosecutors.

 

[zwiebel]

So he says he was filming Rolf's Walkabout at the time of the alleged assault in the community center in 69. Walkabout in the bush, in Australia.

So that's surely verifiable, at least?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Here is an article from The Age, May 1969 announcing the up coming Walkabout filming trip.
I have read from various links that the trip ranged from 2 to 3 months

Quoted from the May 15, 1969 Article

"Four more screenings of his color film Nature Walkabout and then Vincent Serventy the successor to Cosbie Morrison at "Wild Life", is off north on another walkabout in Nature.
Two old school pupils go with him.
One is Rolf Harris "

More at the link below


http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...rApAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cZMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3513,3028655

This article says the tour would be 6 weeks.

I wonder how long after this article did the tour start. Also it seemed to say that it would start soon after the Nature Walkabout film was shown and also mentioned that there were two showings the next day.

 

[Ausgirl]

Omg, Jake the Peg. wth. :facepalm:



Harris denied all specific allegations of indecent assaults while the then schoolgirl travelled with his family on holidays to Hawaii and Australia but conceded they did start an affair when she turned 18.

He said the alleged victim had been a best friend to his daughter Bindi since the pair were two years old but from the age of 16 his daughter developed a closer friendship with another girl.

He said the alleged victim became jealous but continued to visit and stay over at the Harris house even when Bindi was not there.

http://www.news.com.au/world/rolf-h...legalage-affairs/story-fndir2ev-1226933748436


Even if the affair started when the friend was of legal age (and there's a good chance it did, no matter how revolting Rolf is, her story is actually very shaky on many points), it was just dastardly for him to do so. And it's UTTERLY REVOLTING that he now places blame on her for instigating it. How to lose points with a jury, 101.

I think he took advantage of a young woman who was vulnerable and maybe had some problems to begin with. Whether she was of legal age or under, I hope Rolf burns for that.

The woman in the boatshed was also extremely vulnerable. UGH. You have to wonder what his motives for helping her were, at this stage.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

You know whenever I listen to Rolf Harris songs now I find myself looking for hidden meanings in the lyrics, that's not a good thing.

 

[Ausgirl]

Rolf Harris’ sketches of courtroom seized and destroyed after jury complaints

http://www.news.com.au/world/rolf-h...-jury-complaints/story-fndir2ev-1226933874961


..How to lose points with a jury, 102.

 

[Ausgirl]

After around a decade their relationship “ground to a halt”, he said. “There was nothing that kept it together."

In the mid 1990s, he said, he and his wife Alwen invited a “down on her luck” woman aged in her mid-30s to stay in Bindi’s former room. Their relationship “gradually became physical, sexual intimacy” Harris said – which his wife Alwen discovered.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/rolf-ha...sault-trial-20140527-zrq6d.html#ixzz32zfGOOwl


Confirms my suspicion that the boatshed affair would roughly coincide with Bindi's friend getting the flick.

just had to share the oddly apropos ad link titles under this article...

Urine Odour Problem
Brain Training Games
Retirement Visa Thailand

 

[Ausgirl]

One woman alleges she was assaulted during an appearance by Mr Harris at the Leigh Park Community Centre in Havant, Hampshire, in 1969.

But Mr Harris said he had never been to the centre, and said he "remembered very clearly" he had been filming a TV series, "Rolf's Walkabout" in the Australian outback at the time.

The woman also said in evidence that Mr Harris had hairy hands, but Mr Harris showed his hands to the jury and denied they were hairy.

Mr Harris told Southwark Crown Court he also denied having visited Cambridge - where he is accused of attacking a 14-year old-girl in 1975 - until three years ago.

And the jury was shown several copies of Canadian newspapers which stated he was playing a concert in Toronto around the time of the alleged attack.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27586155

So that's two events he wasn't at.

Given that Ms Lee did a pretty good job of unravelling her own story on the stand, I think the case for child sex crimes rests on how believable Bindi's friend is thought to be.

 

[Ausgirl]

Aha, it seems this boatshed lady was the "housekeeper" Bindi suspected was sleeping with Rolf, and got upset about, which is when Bindi's Friend told her she'd been molested:

"This was an affair with a woman who he and his wife have essentially gave shelter to, offered her a woman in their house when, in Rolf Harris's words, "She was down on her luck." The woman was in her mid-30s at the time.

Now, we expect that this is the woman who Bindi Harris at some point found out that her father was having an affair with. She was very upset, apparently. We have heard this before.

And the complainant that we've just been talking about alleges that at that point she told Bindi Harris, "Actually, your father and I have also had sexual contact and, in fact, he's been abusing me since I was 13." "


http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2014/s4013481.htm

The writer thinks Bindi's absence in the court room so far is because she'll be a witness for the defense.

 

[Pisces Cloud]

If there was a thorough search of those newspaper archives and nothing was found.....I don't know what to say.

I would have thought his old agent would also have details, possibly the taxman, and possibly diehard fans. Or just locals who dropped in and took a photo.?

But I don't know how many resources were devoted to researching this case, by prosecutors.

It seems odd that someone would come out with an outright lie like that knowing that it could easily have been checked out. If it did occur, then I do think, though, that it's probably difficult to remember the exact details of that long ago and at such a young age.

 

[Lyra500]

It seems odd that someone would come out with an outright lie like that knowing that it could easily have been checked out. If it did occur, then I do think, though, that it's probably difficult to remember the exact details of that long ago and at such a young age.

I agree. I think the error is more likely to lie with the when and where than with the what in most cases. A couple of these girls were very young weren't they - I would think it pretty unlikely for them to remember the exact date.

To stand up in court and testify about something as intimate and taboo as this takes a lot of guts - I think one would have to be pretty disturbed to fabricate an event and be prepared to testify about it.

It seems incredibly bad luck that Mr Harris managed to attract four different disturbed women to testify against him.

 

[Nymeria]

One woman alleges she was assaulted during an appearance by Mr Harris at the Leigh Park Community Centre in Havant, Hampshire, in 1969.

But Mr Harris said he had never been to the centre, and said he "remembered very clearly" he had been filming a TV series, "Rolf's Walkabout" in the Australian outback at the time.

The woman also said in evidence that Mr Harris had hairy hands, but Mr Harris showed his hands to the jury and denied they were hairy.

Mr Harris told Southwark Crown Court he also denied having visited Cambridge - where he is accused of attacking a 14-year old-girl in 1975 - until three years ago.

And the jury was shown several copies of Canadian newspapers which stated he was playing a concert in Toronto around the time of the alleged attack.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27586155

So that's two events he wasn't at.

Given that Ms Lee did a pretty good job of unravelling her own story on the stand, I think the case for child sex crimes rests on how believable Bindi's friend is thought to be.

*BBM*
I am just following this thread, do not know much about Mr. Harris but I found the case interesting....
Anyway, as people get older they can lose body hair due to any number of things. My gramps was a very hairy man and due to some medications he was taking when he was older he was virtually bald on his arms and legs (and believe me, he was one of those guys who in his youth looked like he was wearing a sweater when he WASN'T!).
Just google loss of body hair in males, you will get all kinds of info.

Just sayin' lack of hair on his hands NOW has no bearing on 30-40 years or so ago.

 

[Ausgirl]

Freddy Starr attracted a few So did several other men who've been falsely accused and acquitted since Yewtree's roundup began. Eight of them, in fact.

That's eight trials' worth of people lying on the stand about being abused. It happens. A lot, by the look of it.

This is why I think calls to suppress the details/names in these high profile cases in the press would be a sensible idea.

I can't understand how being -proven- to not be present makes Rolf still a suspect of an alleged offense. How many events in the area could he have attended in a one (or heck, two..) year period? Surely there's records of those, somewhere?

Why wasn't this all researched -before- it came to court?

 

[Ausgirl]

Just sayin' lack of hair on his hands NOW has no bearing on 30-40 years or so ago.

I agree with you, there, what you've said is very true.

I think we could probably prove the point simply by googling a few old videos or photos of him back in the day. It'd be pretty obvious if his hands were hairy or not.

edit: here's an early pic, from the 70's. I actually think I do see some hair there! Now, if they could only prove he was anywhere near his accuser at the time. It's not UNprovable, which is what gets my goat. Unless it didn't happen.

 

[Ausgirl]

Whoops. Looking more closely at the picture, what I thought was hair (near his thumb) is likely just the edge of his jacket. Not overly hairy then, from what I can tell in this pic.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Two different witnesses remember Rolf Harris visiting Portsmouth in late 60s.

"Another witness has now taken to the stand, who says he helped with celebrities who appeared at the community centre in Portsmouth, including Diana Dors and Rolf Harris
He says he got an autograph for his daughter from Rolf Harris"

"The next witness is another former Portsmouth resident who says he remembers Harris visiting the community centre in the late 1960s when he was a boy.

The defence asks the witness when Sid James and other celebrities visited the area.

They suggest Harris did not visit the area until 1978 and he was never there in the late 1960s.

The witness disagrees, and insists Harris was there at that time, which is when the woman claims she was assaulted "

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/rolf-harris-trial-recap-updates-3544166#ixzz3312JkB7U





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[Ausgirl]

1971: