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| Max Clifford cleared of indecent assault of teenage girl | Max Clifford cleared of indecent assault of teenage girl |
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| Former celebrity publicist Max Clifford has been cleared of indecently assaulting a teenage girl. | Former celebrity publicist Max Clifford has been cleared of indecently assaulting a teenage girl. |
| The 73-year-old, who is serving a jail term for historical sex offences against young women, showed little emotion as the jury foreman returned the verdict at Southwark crown court in London. | |
| Clifford had been accused by prosecutors of using “his position of power” to humiliate a 17-year-old girl into performing a sex act on him in the 1980s. He had denied the offence. | Clifford had been accused by prosecutors of using “his position of power” to humiliate a 17-year-old girl into performing a sex act on him in the 1980s. He had denied the offence. |
| Clifford, formerly of Hersham in Surrey, was jailed for eight years in May 2014 after being convicted of eight charges under Operation Yewtree, the Metropolitan police investigation set up following the Jimmy Savile scandal. | Clifford, formerly of Hersham in Surrey, was jailed for eight years in May 2014 after being convicted of eight charges under Operation Yewtree, the Metropolitan police investigation set up following the Jimmy Savile scandal. |
| The jury took five hours and 50 minutes to find him not guilty. | |
| Clifford gestured a ‘thank you’ with his hand to his counsel and a supporter, before being taken back into custody to continue his existing prison sentence. | |
| The trial was told that Clifford – who previously worked with stars including boxer Muhammad Ali and music mogul Simon Cowell – was alleged to have locked the 17-year-old in his London office and forced her to engage in a sexual act with him. | |
| However, Clifford said the incident did not happen and that he was having regular sex with a French model at the time - one of three long-term extramarital affairs he had during a two-decade period. | |
| Giving evidence in his defence, Clifford said his previous convictions – which he continued to deny – made him “an easy target”. He said: “I was found guilty [in 2014] ... I know I’m innocent. Hopefully one day I will be able to prove that. One of the things I’ve learned [from the last trial] is you’re guilty until proven innocent when sexual offences are involved.” | |
| During the trial, Clifford was held in Wandsworth prison in south London, but is now expected to return to category-C Littlehey prison in Cambridgeshire, where, he told the court, he had been playing tennis, softball, and writing a new book. |