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Rolf Harris cleared of sex assault charges

Former television star Rolf Harris has been cleared of three charges of sexual assault.  The...
Newstalk
Newstalk

12.50 8 Feb 2017


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Rolf Harris cleared of sex ass...

Rolf Harris cleared of sex assault charges

Newstalk
Newstalk

12.50 8 Feb 2017


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Former television star Rolf Harris has been cleared of three charges of sexual assault. 

The jury at Southwark Crown Court has been discharged on the other counts he was facing.

The 86-year-old, who is currently serving a six-year sentence for sex offences at Stafford Prison, was charged with groping a woman at a children's TV show in the 1980s.

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Harris is alleged to have placed his hand on the breast of the teenager after a broadcast of Saturday Superstore at BBC Television Centre in White City, west London, in 1983.

The woman told the court Harris slid his hand under her breast and asked: "Do you often get molested on a Saturday morning?"

Prosecutors told the court Mr Harris had an "appetite" for groping women and girls in public places.

Jonathan Rees QC said it was striking that so many allegations involved Mr Harris "getting away with a sly, quick grope right under the noses of people who did not notice."

Stephen Vullo QC, defending, said it was hard to imagine "a harder or faster or deeper fall from grace".

He blamed a "media frenzy" for making Mr Harris "vulnerable to people making accusations against him".

Harris found fame producing novelty pop hits as well as featuring on children's TV.

He declined to give evidence at his second trial, choosing to watch proceedings on a videolink from Stafford prison, and later from the dock with a hearing loop..


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