Australians will wake to the news this morning that Rolf Harris is a sexual predator. The entertainer has been found guilty of all 12 charges against him; the BBC reports:
Veteran entertainer Rolf Harris has been found guilty of 12 counts of indecently assaulting four girls in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.One of the victims was a childhood friend of his daughter, while another was aged seven or eight.
The court heard Harris, 84, was a "Jekyll and Hyde" character, and he will be sentenced on Friday.
Police also said they were considering fresh allegations against Harris which did not form part of his recent trial.
Scotland Yard said if the claims meet the force's threshold for investigation they will be looked into further.
The judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, said a custodial term was "uppermost in the court's mind", but he wanted to see a medical report before sentencing.
Harris, who was granted bail, faced a mass of photographers and reporters as he left court in the company of his wife Alwen and daughter Bindi, who had both attended most of the trial at Southwark Crown Court.
The allegations against Rolf Harris were in complete contrast to his jovial public persona, and his status as an icon of the Australian entertainment industry. People within the industry had their doubts about him however, and they have been proved right. It begs the question though as to whether his offending could or should have been stopped.
The BBC continues:
Prosecutors said Harris used his "status and position" to abuse his victims, and he had a dark side to his personality.
The central allegation concerned a friend of Harris's daughter, whom the court heard he groomed and molested from the age of 13 until she was 19.
The other victims told the court they were touched or groped by Harris, sometimes at his public appearances.
The jury deliberated for 37 hours and 45 minutes before reaching their unanimous verdicts.
Harris was found guilty of all 12 charges he was prosecuted on. They were:
- Count one: A woman said Harris touched her inappropriately when she was just seven or eight while he was signing autographs in Hampshire in the late 1960s
- Count two: Harris was accused of groping a teenage waitress's bottom at a charity event in Cambridge in the 1970s
- Counts three to nine: A childhood friend of Mr Harris' daughter said he repeatedly indecently assaulted her between the ages of 13 and 19, including once when his daughter was asleep in the same room. He admitted a relationship with the woman, but said it began after she turned 18
Six other women also told the court about indecent assaults Harris had carried out against them. The entertainer was not prosecuted over those incidents but the evidence was introduced by the prosecution as an added illustration of his behaviour.
- Counts 10 to 12: Australian woman Tonya Lee, who has waived her right to anonymity, said he fondled her three times on one day while she was on a theatre group trip to the UK at the age of 15.
We've been reluctant to comment during the course of the trial, as Harris was entitled to the presumption of innocence, even though the evidence against him was compelling. Of particular disgust were the charges relating to a childhood friend of Harris' daughter, with whom Harris later had a consensual adulterous relationship.
The Judge in the case has indicated that a prison term is likely, although Harris' health will be taken into account. Unless there are compelling reasons not to imprison him, Harris should serve a term in prison; his offending is an appalling breach of the most fundamental of rights; the right of women not to be sexually abused by a predator.
