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The British Crown Prosecution Service has just announced it is satisfied it has enough evidence for successful pedophilia charges against Rolf Harris, the famous ex-patriot Australian entertainer and artist. His trial has been set for 23 September 2013.
- Rolf Harris alongside his portrait of Queen Elizabeth 11. Harris, like one of the biggest pedophiles in history, Sir Jimmy Savile (whom he also drew), has long had rare privileged guest status at Buckingham Palace, and is favoured among other British Royals, some of whom have had affiliations with Sathya Sai Baba, such as Prince Charles, the Queen’s son.
Harris has long been identified as a devotee of (the late) Sathya Sai Baba. This most famous and powerful of Indian gurus may in one respect be compared to Sir Jimmy Savile, the British entertainment star – whose pedophile rampage over decades gave terribly belated impetus to investigating other celebrities such as Rolf Harris. Both were among history’s worst pedophiles. Sathya Sai Baba and Savile both received powerful protective patronage in the highest places, which secreted their crimes and prevented their prosecution.
In 2012, given British traditions of justice, some media and other observers were censured for being too prompt to release Harris identity as being among those investigated by Scotland Yard’s ‘Operation Yewtree’. The police, however, continued their investigation but without revealing Harris as one of their many targets of enquiry.
Operation Yewtree is an ongoing, watershed British investigation set up after enormous public outcry and government action in the wake of the Sir Jimmy Savile pedophile scandal.
- Rolf Harris Sketch of Sir Jimmy Savile
See my articles on the Sir Jimmy Savile issue:
Serial Pedophile Issues and Comparisons: Sir Jimmy Savile and Sathya Sai Baba
Pedophilia: Why Do Most Of Us Protect the Jimmy Saviles Everywhere?
Charge sheet facing Rolf Harris. (Harris’s trial is set for 23 September 2013):
- Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years between 5 April 1980 and 4 April 1981.
- Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years between 5 April 1980 and 4 April 1981.
- Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years between 5 April 1980 and 4 April 1981.
- Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years between 5 April 1980 and 4 April 1981.
- Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years between 5 April 1980 and 4 April 1981.
- Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years between 5 April 1980 and 4 April 1981.
- Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years between 28 April and 7 June 1986
- Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years between 28 April and 7 June 1986
- Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years between 28 April and 7 June 1986
- Making indecent images of children on or before 16 March 2012
- Making indecent images of children on or before 25 May 2012
- Making indecent images of children on or before 11 June 2012
- Making indecent images of children on or before 18 July 2012
My articles on the Rolf Harris issue, from which I include a brief quote, are:
British Police Re-Arrest Rolf Harris In Operation Yewtree Pedophilia Hunt
Posted by Barry Pittard on April 20, 2013
Operation Yewtree originated in the UK pedophile scandal which exposed the British entertainer and disgraced national treasure, Sir Jimmy Savile, who, like Sathya Sai Baba, was a pedophile on a vast scale – one never met in British police force history. He had extraordinary access to members of the Royal Family and to Buckingham Palace itself. The Yewtree remit is to investigate:
– claims against Savile
– claims against Savile and others
– claims against others
Investigators Can Probe Rolf Harris’s Links With Sathya Sai Baba, Target Of Major Serial Pedophile Allegations
Posted by Barry Pittard on April 22, 2013
Once the closest of all western followers of Sai Baba, David Bailey, the well-known British musician and, like myself, a former lecturer in Sai Baba’s education establishment, has told us about his visit along with Rolf Harris to the University of Leeds, some thirty years ago. Harris played the guitar and evangelized Sai Baba to a group of around thirty students. David has mentioned his irritation at the time that Harris insisted on a first class return fare from London.See my: Truth In Action: David and Faye Bailey Vs Sathya Sai Baba and: David Bailey and Thomas Wiehe. Transcript Of Phone Link: Sathya Sai Abuses and: Reply to a Sathya Sai Devotee’s Note re: David and Faye Bailey
Rolf Harris (Sathya Sai Baba Cult Man): Scotland Yard Investigators Travel to Australia
Posted by Barry Pittard on May 3, 2013
The famous Australian entertainer Rolf Harris is, in the true sense, a household name in Australia and the UK. His name, like that of his friend, the major jazz and blues singer Dana Gillespie, has long been associated with Sathya Sai Baba.
Rolf Harris, 83, Facing Underage Sex Accusations, Does Second Big Stage Show
Posted by Barry Pittard on May 20, 2013
Australian entertainer, Rolf Harris, 83, long mentioned as a devotee of Sathya Sai Baba, has just done a second concert for this year (the last being in February). In the last two years, British police arrested him for questioning about underage sexual assault allegations. He is required to report to police for further question in about a week.
Last November, he was interviewed under caution, and again arrested last March, two days prior to turning 83. Since then, a second Australian woman given testimony against him.
First News Reports
ABC NEWS
Rolf Harris charged with indecent assault and making indecent images of a child
By Europe correspondent Mary Gearin, staff
Rolf Harris has made no public comment following revelations British police have charged him with nine counts of indecent assault and four counts of making indecent images of a child.
Six of the indecent assault charges relate to the alleged assault of a girl aged between 15 and 16 in the years 1980 and 1981, while the other three relate to the alleged assault of a 14-year-old girl in 1986.
The four charges of making indecent images of a child relate to alleged incidents between March and July 2012.
Most of the charges carry maximum sentences of five years, some carry a maximum of 10.
Neither Harris nor any of his representatives have made any comment.
The charges come as a part of Operation Yewtree, the investigation prompted by the child sexual abuse allegations against late BBC TV star Jimmy Savile.
Key points
- Rolf Harris charged with a total of 13 offences.
- Nine indecent-assault charges relate to alleged incidents with teenage girls in 1980-81 and 1986.
- Four charges of making an indecent image relate to alleged incidents in 2012.
- First arrested in November 29, 2012.
- Harris will appear in court on September 23.
Alison Saunders from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says evidence from the Metropolitan Police has been carefully considered.
‘Realistic prospect’ of conviction: prosecutors
Ms Saunders says there is sufficient evidence against Harris for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction.
“Having completed our review, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest for Mr Harris to be charged with nine counts of indecent assault and four of making indecent images of a child,” she said in a statement.
“The alleged indecent assaults date from 1980 to 1986 and relate to two complainants aged 14 and 15 at the time of the alleged offending.
“The decision to prosecute has been taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and the DPP’s interim guidelines on prosecuting cases of child sexual abuse.
“We have determined that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.”
Court date set for September
Rolf Harris: Timeline
- Born in Perth, Australia in 1930.
- Harris moved to the UK in 1952 and begun drawing animation for TV.
- In 1957, Harris wrote ‘Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport’, which became a top-ten hit around the world.
- In 1973, he played the first-ever concert held in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House.
- He invented the percussive instrument the “wobble board” in the 1970s.
- Harris later moved into TV, appearing on many British television shows in the 1970s and 80s.
Harris is set to appear in the Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 23.
Harris was first arrested on November 29 last year over alleged sexual offences.
He was re-arrested earlier this month but was granted bail without being charged.
A file of evidence was passed on to the CPS from the Metropolitan Police on August 12.
It is notable to say that this is the first time Scotland Yard has actually named Harris.
It has only been the media that in the past few months have published his name and his identity in relation to this investigation.
Harris has been keeping a very low profile and the police, in turn, also have been very circumspect about giving any information out.
Harris charges not related to Savile abuse
Harris’s case relates to the third strand of Operation Yewtree, which is investigating allegations of abuse not related to the Savile scandal but which emerged in its wake.
He is now the fourth person to be charged as a result of the operation.
While Harris is yet to make any public comment about the allegations, the veteran entertainer alluded to the scandal during a concert in Bristol in May.
“You’ve got no idea what this means to have you turn up with such enthusiasm and such support,” he told the audience.
Harris received a standing ovation at the beginning and end of the concert.
Topics: sexual-offences, arts-and-entertainment, people, human-interest, england, australia
First posted Thu 29 Aug 2013, 9:09pm AEST
Rolf Harris charged with indecent assault of two girls
Paul Peachey. THURSDAY 29 AUGUST 2013
The television presenter and entertainer Rolf Harris was today charged with indecently assaulting two teenage girls and making indecent images of a child.
The 83-year-old will appear in court next month facing nine counts of indecent assault dating back to the 1980s and four of making indecent images from last year, police and prosecutors said.
Mr Harris, of Maidenhead, Berkshire, was first arrested in November last year by detectives on the Jimmy Savile child abuse inquiry, Operation Yewtree, but his identity was not publicly revealed for months.
Police do not reveal names of people it arrests, and Mr Harris was known only as “Yewtree Five” until April, while other suspects were swiftly identified through lawyers, agents or neighbours.
Alison Saunders, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the charges were imposed after lawyers agreed there was sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it was in the public interest.
“We have carefully considered the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police Service as part of Operation Yewtree in relation to Rolf Harris
“Having completed our review, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest for Mr Harris to be charged with nine counts of indecent assault and four of making indecent images of a child.
“The alleged indecent assaults date from 1980 to 1986 and relate to two complainants aged 14 and 15 at the time of the alleged offending.”
The Australian-born entertainer will appear at Westminster magistrates court on September 23. The DJ, Dave Lee Travis, and PR guru Max Clifford, have already appeared in court after charges were laid in connection with the Yewtree inquiry.
Mr Harris, who painted a portrait of the Queen in 2005 and performed at her Diamond Jubilee concert last year, has been a family favourite for decades.
He had his first musical hit Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport in 1960, and continued to enjoy success in the industry, gaining cult status in recent years and performing at Glastonbury festival several times.
He also proved popular as a television presenter, getting his first big break in 1967 when he began hosting his own BBC1 programme, The Rolf Harris Show, before moving on to children’s television in the 1980s and then to Animal Hospital, which he hosted from 1994 to 2004.
Mr Harris was awarded an MBE in 1968, an OBE in 1977 and a CBE in 2006, and was made Officer of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list last year.
Related articles
- Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal: Rolf Harris revealed as ‘entertainer’ arrested by police investigating abuse allegations in November – so why has his name only come out now?
- Met officer in court on attempted child sex charge
- Rolf Harris investigation into alleged sex abuse moves to Australia
- Rolf Harris performs first concert since arrest for historic sex assault claims
- Rolf Harris: A household name for 50 years
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