Monday, June 30, 2014

Rolf Harris found guilty on all 12 counts of sexual abuse against young girls


Veteran TV entertainer Rolf Harris has been found guilty of carrying out sex attacks on young girls.


The 84-year-old denied 12 counts of indecent assault against four victims.


But he now faces up to ten years in jail after a jury of six men and six women found him guilty on all charges.


He showed no reaction in the dock.


He will be sentenced on Friday and was released on bail.


The prosecution had described Rolf Harris as a "sinister pervert" who targeted young fans "mesmerised' by his fame.


He singled out girls and treated them as sexual objects that he could touch when he felt like it, prosecutor Sasha Wass QC said in her closing speech.


At Southwark Crown Court, Ms Wass branded the artist an "arrogant and brazen" man who thought he was untouchable.


On his first day of evidence, Harris began singing a verse of his song Jake The Peg.


Wass said: "You can't buy your way out of a criminal charge, you can't bully your way out of a criminal charge, and you certainly can't sing your way out of a criminal charge."


Ms Wass said that evidence given by the four women, as well as claims by other witnesses to whom charges do not relate, showed that Harris was a "sinister pervert who had a demon lurking beneath the charming exterior"



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