Harris claims 13 year old had consensual relationship

Plek Trum · 12-05-2014 03:29PM

Taken from Dailymail website:

BOMBSHELL LETTER: WHAT ROLF HARRIS WROTE TO GIRL'S FATHER

Here is the full text of a letter written by Rolf Harris to the father of one of his alleged victims in March 1997.

'Dear [the father],

'Please forgive me for not writing sooner. You said in your letter to me that you never wanted to see me or hear from me again, but now [the alleged victim] says it's all right to write to you.

'Since that trip up to Norfolk, I have been in a state of abject self loathing. How we delude ourselves.

'I fondly imagined that everything that had taken place had progressed from a feeling of love and friendship - there was no rape, no physical forcing, brutality or beating that took place.

'When I came to Norfolk, [the alleged victim] told me that she had always been terrified of me and went along with everything that I did out of fear of me.

'I said 'Why did you never just say no?'. And [the alleged victim] said how could she say no to the great television star Rolf Harris.

'Until she told me that, I had no idea that she was scared of me.

'She laughs in a bitter way and says I must have known that she has always been scared of me. I honestly didn't know.

'[The alleged victim] keeps saying that this has all been going on since she was 13. She's told you that and you were justly horrified, and she keeps reiterating that to me, no matter what I said to the contrary.

'She says admiring her and telling her she looked lovely in her bathing suit was just the same as physically molesting her. I didn't know. Nothing took place in a physical way until we had moved to Highlands. I think about 1983 or 84 was the first time.

'I can pinpoint a date was 1986, because I remember I was in pantomime at Richmond.

'When I see the misery I have caused [the alleged victim] I am sickened by myself. You can't go back and change things that you have done in this life - I wish to god I could.

'When I came to Norfolk, spent that time with [the alleged victim] and realised the enormity of what I had done to [the alleged victim], and how I had affected her whole life, I begged her for forgiveness and she said 'I forgive you'.

'Whether she really meant it or not, I don't know. I hope she did, but I fear she can never forgive me.

'I find it hard to like myself in any way, shape or form. And as I do these Animal programmes, I see the unconditional love that dogs give to their owners and I wish I could start to love myself again.

'If there is any way that I could atone for what I have done I would willingly do it. If there is a way I can start to help [the alleged victim] to heal herself, I would willingly do it.

'With your permission I'll phone you in a week to talk to you. If you hang up, I will understand, but I would like to talk to you to apologise for betraying your trust and for unwittingly so harming your darling [the alleged victim].

'I know that what I did was wrong but we are, all of us, fallible and oh how I deluded myself.

'Please forgive me, love Rolf.

'Please forgive me for what must have been the most insensitive thing in your eyes - sending the book for Christmas. Alwen knows nothing about all this - at the time - and rather than tell her I signed the book and wrote the platitudes with sinking heart.

'Forgive me.'
.

Pretty indicting stuff to me - admission of action, timeframes etc. Apparently the victim in question was best friends with his daughter since age of 2 or 3, their families were close. Its a betrayal on that account alone, but if she was over 18, not illegal. If it happened to her when younger (and can be proven to be true) then unfortunately a man I considered to be my childhood hero really is a monster. Out of all the 'celebs' under investigation under operation Yew Tree, I really didn't think this one would be true. Seems I was possibly wrong...

Karl Stein · 12-05-2014 03:30PM

I'm tough as nails
you're slower than a snail
I beat up every single person in jail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk4Nu_5vSR0

RoboRat · 12-05-2014 03:41PM

because as much as the bulk of the case is he said she said

Generally is the case in rape, paedophilia, indecent assault cases.

Maphisto · 12-05-2014 04:09PM

Plek Trum wrote: »

Pretty indicting stuff to me - admission of action, timeframes etc. Apparently the victim in question was best friends with his daughter since age of 2 or 3, their families were close. Its a betrayal on that account alone, but if she was over 18, not illegal. If it happened to her when younger (and can be proven to be true) then unfortunately a man I considered to be my childhood hero really is a monster. Out of all the 'celebs' under investigation under operation Yew Tree, I really didn't think this one would be true. Seems I was possibly wrong...

Given that this happened in the UK, 16 would be age of consent.

Either way, RH is clearly not the nicest of people though.

Sunglasses Ron · 29-05-2014 02:00PM

Maphisto wrote: »

Either way, RH is clearly not the nicest of people though.

Like Hitler, or one of those mad fellas.

Anyone still following this? Must say from what we can read from the outside the evidence seems more reasonably strong than most of the other recent celebrity trials/ investigations (although there is a lack of clear proof he was making celebrity appearances at some of the locations/ times of some alleged offences)

I can still only assume there is a media blackout on pending charges relating to the indecent images charges, seeing as there are zero Google results from mainstream media regarding them ever having been dropped. In fact the very few google results only lead to conspiracy theory websites of such demented wingnuttery that they make Alex Jones look like a paper of record.

If he is acquitted and then faces the images charges at a separate trial I'm sure there will be some amount of media uproar as to whether this type of thing should be tagged along to a case as some sort of "character defining" evidence or whatnot.

I Heart Internet · 29-05-2014 02:11PM

Rolf is gonna have to tie his kangaroo down in a prison shortly.

Sunglasses Ron · 29-05-2014 02:22PM

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/07/rolf-harris-in-court-as-jury-selection-begins-for-indecent-assault-trial

"He is also facing four counts of making indecent photographs of a child in 2012 but is yet to be arraigned on those charges."

So there it is.

Seems that the defense regarded whatever was found to be fatally prejudicial to the ability of the jurors to decide on the rest of the charges.

This one won't be over for a while even if he is acquitted of the current charges. Given his career is effectively over even if he is found not guilty (likable artists cum folk singers don't do their reputation favors by getting off with the borderline legal daughters of their family friends) one would wonder if he would simply plead guilty to the next charges to avoid a prolonged trial and say as much when asked by the media why he plead guilty- after all it is highly unlikely a man of his age would be jailed for having a small amount of this stuff, some of these people get a suspended sentence for having thousands of them (Darina Allen's husband and that judge down in Cork some years ago spring to mind)

Santa Cruz · 29-05-2014 02:34PM

I Heart Internet wrote: »

Rolf is gonna have to tie his kangaroo down in a prison shortly.

Hate to see his digeridoo after a few months in the Scrubs.
He won't be singing about two little boys anymore

Sunglasses Ron · 29-05-2014 02:55PM

Well if we're going to drag it down to this level.....his daughter isn't a bad looker for middle age, whilst his wife looks as mad as a bag of drowning cats.

Sleepy · 29-05-2014 03:05PM

They were saying on The Right Hook yesterday that he's apparently been able to show evidence (newspaper coverage) that he wasn't even in the country at the time that some of the other abuses are alleged to have taken place so there could definitely be a case of bandwagon cases happening...

Sunglasses Ron · 29-05-2014 03:21PM

Sleepy wrote: »

They were saying on The Right Hook yesterday that he's apparently been able to show evidence (newspaper coverage) that he wasn't even in the country at the time that some of the other abuses are alleged to have taken place so there could definitely be a case of bandwagon cases happening...

It's been a while but I'm nearly certain that it said the main complainant reported her case to the police before the whole Savile controversy came about.

It is, of course, possible or even likely that some of the complainants here are on a bandwagon as has happened with all these cases, but for one complaint to pre date all this media witch hunt atmosphere is fairly significant.

Fighting Irish · 29-05-2014 03:55PM

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

16 year relationship??

So she was with him until 29?

Misleading title. One could see how a 16 year relationship could objectively be consensual from 18 to 29.

Not from 13 to 18 though.

Either way, could care less.

Legally

anto9 · 29-05-2014 04:16PM

anto9 wrote: »

^True it was stated that she was paid for the Aus. TV interview ,but she did sound very believable (unless she is a great actress ) and has shown her face which could cause problems in her life .Anyway i will wait for the Jury to make a verdict .

I know longer believe this particular lady .Firstly i read that she got 65,000 Aus dollars from one particular media to tell her story .Then she got her time line totally wrong about when the assault happened .She said initally it happened at the start of her UK group tour ,then it appears in Court it was at the end ,if it happened .

Sunglasses Ron · 03-06-2014 11:31AM

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2646678/TV-game-video-proves-Rolf-Harris-liar.html

Caught out doing a bit of Bertie- ism it would seem. He would be better off claiming he simply forgot rather than claiming his agent was regularly sending him on mystery tours to places where he didn't even bother asking the name of. Claiming you forgot you were somewhere nearly 40 years ago is a lot more plausible than the Bertie defense, seems like he prosecution really caught him off guard with this one.

I found his claim that he had never been to a reasonably sized world famous town not a million miles away from his own South of England locale to be very odd in the first place, given that he was a regularly touring performer/ artist and all.

His daughter was giving testimony as well, and it wasn't exactly a glowing character reference. One wonders if she is more worried for her mother's health if he is found guilty than whether he actually did it or not.

Guilty or not he seems an awful slimy c'unt regardless.

03-06-2014 05:40PM

It's amusing that we consider the ending of RH's career as being an aspect of the possible punishment. The man is over 80. I doubt his career was too hectic recently so that's not going to be much of a loss. It's as bemusing as Silvio Berlusconi being given community service to serve in an elderly care centre when he's 77 years old himself.

Harris quite probably never believed his victim was afraid of him because it suited him to never believe it. In the letter, he self servingly refers to his relationship with his alleged victim as having come from a place of love. However in court, he admitted it was just no frills sex. So we knew he lies by his own admission.

He's a duplicitous self-serving opportunist and quite possibly a pedophile if he has been in possession of child pornography. Even if he's not guilty of any crime, he's shown himself to be the opposite of his benevolent grandad image, and he has duped his viewing public for decades.

Temptamperu · 03-06-2014 05:45PM

Their is no such thing as consensual with anyone under 18 in my eyes.

porsche959 · 03-06-2014 05:49PM

Temptamperu wrote: »

Their is no such thing as consensual with anyone under 18 in my eyes.

That's not what the law says. Age of consent is 16 in UK and 17 in Ireland.

Temptamperu · 03-06-2014 05:51PM

porsche959 wrote: »

That's not what the law says. Age of consent is 16 in UK and 17 in Ireland.

I know, I have my own moral compass though.

Smidge · 03-06-2014 06:07PM

Temptamperu wrote: »

Their is no such thing as consensual with anyone under 18 in my eyes.

In fairness, I'd say there are a LOT of people out there who lost their virginity at 16 with an older partner. Maybe only a year or two but still.

GalwayGuy2 · 03-06-2014 06:13PM

Hmmmm, the juries still out, but I'm not sure they can prove he actually did anything.

Sunglasses Ron · 04-06-2014 09:21AM

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

Hmmmm, the juries still out, but I'm not sure they can prove he actually did anything.

Well that is always the case with any charge brought that does not carry physical evidence. But this one certainly seems to have a lot more supporting factors than some of the other celerity cases recently. I was never a fan of Harris (nor did I dislike him, it's just that I'm not very artistic and I think Animal Hospital used to clash with Coronation Street growing up in mine

) but given he has managed to trick his fans for 50 odd years into believing he is an affable, grandfatherly bloke when the truth is he would put John Terry to shame, it makes you wonder what he could be capable of having hidden. From lying about having visited Cambridge to getting off with a barely legal lifelong family friend, the odds are not stacked well in his favour.

And there is still this issue of how whatever was found on his PC is apparently so explosive it demands a separate trial and seemingly a media blackout from reporting on it.

My bet- a conviction, albeit not on every count, possibly overturned as unsafe by a court of appeal judge somewhere down the line.

Mr Viking · 04-06-2014 09:24AM

Sunglasses Ron wrote: »

Well that is always the case with any charge brought that does not carry physical evidence. But this one certainly seems to have a lot more supporting factors than some of the other celerity cases recently. I was never a fan of Harris (nor did I dislike him, it's just that I'm not very artistic and I think Animal Hospital used to clash with Coronation Street growing up in mine ) but given he has managed to trick his fans for 50 odd years into believing he is an affable, grandfatherly bloke when the truth is he would put John Terry to shame, it makes you wonder what he could be capable of having hidden. From lying about having visited Cambridge to getting off with a barely legal lifelong family friend, the odds are not stacked well in his favour.

And there is still this issue of how whatever was found on his PC is apparently so explosive it demands a separate trial and seemingly a media blackout from reporting on it.

My bet- a conviction, albeit not on every count, possibly overturned as unsafe by a court of appeal judge somewhere down the line.

So much media hype and conflicting evidence, I think he will get off mores the pity

Sunglasses Ron · 04-06-2014 09:45AM

Mr Viking wrote: »

So much media hype and conflicting evidence, I think he will get off mores the pity

Well the pre jury interviews will have been looking to find people who never watched his shows but didn't particularly dislike him either.

A bit like myself!

Whilst we can only read what we get to read, I'd be leaning towards voting guilty at the minute.

Reiketsu · 30-06-2014 03:21PM

Found guilty

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28094561

30-06-2014 03:25PM

And one of his victims was aged 7 or 8.

My childhood was a lie. I loved RH on Animal Hospital, I would have never in a million years suspected him of being a sex offender.

Who's next?

ibarelycare · 30-06-2014 03:26PM

God it's so sad. A seven-year-old girl ffs. What a scumbag...and it's taken until the man is 84 for him to be punished. Will he spend the rest of his life in prison?

Kunkka · 30-06-2014 03:35PM

http://news.sky.com/story/1292273/rolf-harris-guilty-of-string-of-sex-attacks

Theres the Sky article. Grim stuff

Nodin · 30-06-2014 03:42PM

It would seem he would go for any age available.

'Jane Marwick, a radio presenter in Western Australia, said Harris groped her breast while posing for a photo with her and her co-host after a 2001 interview. "Rolf Harris had been one of my childhood idols growing up here in WA," she told Australian media during the trial. "I'd thought the world of him and I couldn't believe this was happening."
Her co-presenter, Gary Shannon, said he recalled seeing Harris carry out the grope: "He had his tongue out and was panting heavily. He grabbed the wobble board and bolted out of the studio." Separately, Verity James, a newsreader for ABC, told reporters she and a female producer were groped by Harris during a radio interview in 2000.'
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/30/rolf-harris-guilty-indecent-assault

If the bolded is true, its hard to know what was going on in his head - there's no suggestion of drink or drug use. On a number of occasions he seems to have turned up and just starting blatantly obviously groping women.

Kunkka · 30-06-2014 03:48PM

How the hell has this stuff only come out now when he was doing it in the public eye to people who could have easily spoke out?

30-06-2014 03:54PM

Kunkka wrote: »

How the hell has this stuff only come out now when he was doing it in the public eye to people who could have easily spoke out?

Same as Savile. The weight of public perception was on his side, and he used his position to cover up his crimes.

Young victims are very easily intimidated, especially young girls who are often indoctrinated with the belief that they either did something to deserve it (dress, drinking etc), or at least didn't do enough to avoid it (taxi instead of walking, avoiding being alone with men etc.).

Kids are easily threatened and made believe they'll be thought of as liars while their idols are believed.

Harris claims 13 year old had consensual relationship

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