0 "You may take him down," - Rolf Harris jailed

Disgraced Australian entertainer Rolf Harris has been jailed for five years and nine months. The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

Veteran Australian entertainer Rolf Harris has been sentenced to five years and nine months in jail but will be eligible for release after serving half of that term for the indecent assault of four girls aged between eight and 19 in a dramatic sentencing hearing in London overnight.
In a sensational climax to the trial of the former popular showman, Harris received a blistering rebuke from  judge Nigel Sweeney who told him he had shown ‘‘no remorse’’.

‘‘You have done many good and charitable works ...   but the verdicts of the jury show that in the period of 1969 to 1986 you were also a sex offender.
‘‘You took advantage of the trust placed in you because of your celebrity status to commit the offences against three of your victims. (In another) you committed (the offence) in breach of the trust her parents placed in you.
‘‘You clearly got a thrill from committing the offences while others were present or nearby. Your reputation now is in tatters ...  you have been stripped of your honours and you have no-one to blame but yourself.’’

In detailing his sentence, the judge said he had ‘‘caused psychological damage’’ and the alcoholism of one victim and that ‘‘you took her childhood innocence’’ of another.
While he sentenced Harris to terms ranging from 6 months to 15 months on the 12 counts, many of them were to be served concurrently. Justice Sweeney said he would have imposed a higher sentence but was constrained by the law as it was at the time of the offences.
The judge said there were factors to be considered in mitigating the term, including his wife’s Alwen’s ill health, and the ability to spend the twilight years of his life with his family.
Harris showed no emotion as the sentence was read. 

That last comment typifies this whole case. Harris has shown little emotion throughout, and he has certainly shown no remorse towards his many victims, nor has he taken responsibility for his actions.

We have no sympathy for Rolf Harris. He made his choices, and he must now accept the consequences. We do not in any way condone any sexual assaults or inappropriate behaviour towards children or young women. But nor do we feel compelled to apologise on behalf of our species.

Harris has been found guilty by a jury of doing the crimes, and now he must do the time. He will be remembered as a man who used his privileged position for self-gratification, without a care for the feelings of those he abused. As the cell door slams shut behind him tonight, we hope that he understands that it is not only his own life he has destroyed.

0 Emmerson on Jake the Ped

Herald cartoonist Rod Emmerson makes no attempt to hide his contempt of convicted sex offender Rolf Harris:

Like the good cartoonist he is, Emmerson has pushed right to the bounds of decency with this cartoon, in our ever-humble opinion. There is widespread revulsion at the unmasking of the dark side of Harris, as those of us who grew up with his music and TV shows come to terms with the double life he led.

And there's no shortage of Harris stories around the place at the moment. This one is worth a read, beginning thus:

In a 60-year show business career, Rolf Harris was laden with honours: MBE, CBE, Queen's portraitist.
But the jury's unanimous verdict yesterday will ensure he is remembered by titles of a different sort: adulterer, abuser, paedophile.

0 Rolf Harris guilty

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

• 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.

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.

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.

0 Power and control

This story is so wrong. A convicted and imprisoned paedophile is still exercising power and control over his victims; Stuff reports:

Two girls abused by a paedophile are powerless to make the man remove their tattooed names from his forearms.
Christopher Hill, 34, who was jailed for seven years in Napier District Court last week, has the names of the sisters, now aged 12 and 13, tattooed from his wrists to his elbows. They were done in 2011 and were covered when he appeared in court.
The older girl, who was abused from the age of 4 until 10, made an emotional victim impact statement before Judge Jonathan Down. "Chris has my name tattooed on his arm. I hate this and it really upsets me," she said. "He didn't ask me if he could put my name on his arm. I would like it taken off. It feels like he owns me."
She cried as she described the dramatic impact his offending had had on her life, and said she was worried he would seek revenge when released.
The younger girl's victim impact statement, read by a family friend, also outlined how Hill's acts had affected her and said: "I'm upset about my name being tattooed on his arm. I remember he said he put our names there because he loved us. This makes me feel really yukky."
The girls' mother told the court she had trusted Hill "100 per cent". "Words cannot express how I feel . . . My family's destroyed and I have to get it back somehow." 

Hill must be one sick puppy. The comment from the older girl that "It feels like he owns me" is right on the mark.

This sad story continues:

In March, a jury found Hill guilty of a charge of attempted sexual violation by rape, unlawful sexual connection and six charges of indecent assault of a child under 12. All but one charge involved the older girl. Several charges were representative.
The judge said Hill's demeanour in the dock and a pre-sentence report made it plain he was dismissive of the charges and maintained his innocence.
Hill had slept in the same bed as the girls. "It's hard to see how such a situation arose, but having heard from [the mother] this morning, it is quite clear she was under a great deal of stress" and had put her total trust in Hill, the judge said.

It was easy for others to criticise her for that in hindsight, "but we don't know what the situation was".
The judge said the offending was the type "that keeps on harming for many years and sometimes for the lifetime of the victims".
Hill has a minimum non-parole period of 3 years.

We had an internal debate before posting this. On one hand, the story is disgusting and repulsive. But on the other, it is a reminder that there are people out there who will do anything to exert their power over the vulnerable people they prey one. And in this case, Hill could be out, doing the same thing in just three years.