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Rolf Harris pleads not guilty to 12 counts of indecent assault | Rolf Harris pleads not guilty to 12 counts of indecent assault |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Rolf Harris has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of indecent assault spanning an 18-year period from 1968 and involving four alleged victims aged between seven and 19. | Rolf Harris has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of indecent assault spanning an 18-year period from 1968 and involving four alleged victims aged between seven and 19. |
The 83-year-old artist and entertainer denied the charges during a hearing at Southwark crown court in London on Tuesday. He has yet to be arraigned on four separate charges of making indecent images of children. | |
The judge, Mr Justice Nigel Sweeney, set a trial date of 30 April. | The judge, Mr Justice Nigel Sweeney, set a trial date of 30 April. |
Among the charges denied by Harris was one of indecent assault against a girl then aged seven or eight on a date between the start of 1968 and the start of 1970. He also pleaded not guilty to six allegations of indecent assault against one alleged female victim, aged 15 to 16, between April 1980 and a year later, as well as a separate charge connected to the same person, when she was 19, during 1984. | Among the charges denied by Harris was one of indecent assault against a girl then aged seven or eight on a date between the start of 1968 and the start of 1970. He also pleaded not guilty to six allegations of indecent assault against one alleged female victim, aged 15 to 16, between April 1980 and a year later, as well as a separate charge connected to the same person, when she was 19, during 1984. |
The other allegations denied included three charges of indecent assault against a girl aged 14 in May 1986, and indecent assault against another 14-year-old girl on an occasion during 1975. | |
Harris, wearing a blue suit, white shirt and red tie, spoke only to confirm his name and give his pleas. He was accompanied in court by his wife, Alwen, and daughter Bindi. | Harris, wearing a blue suit, white shirt and red tie, spoke only to confirm his name and give his pleas. He was accompanied in court by his wife, Alwen, and daughter Bindi. |
The Australian, who has lived in the UK for more than 60 years, was for decades one of the country's best known and most beloved children's broadcasters, with a career in children's TV spanning from the 1960s, much of it connected to art. He is himself a respected artist, painting a portrait of the Queen in 2005. Harris also performed at her diamond jubilee concert in 2012. | |
Born in Perth, Western Australia, in 1930, he moved to the UK at the age of 21. Harris enrolled an art school but, after two years dropped out and started drawing on children's television programmes. | |
A successful career in television hosting programmes such as The Rolf Harris Show, Cartoon Time and Animal Hospital followed. That was accompanied by a substantial musical output that comprised 30 studio albums and 48 singles – including Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport and Two Little Boys, which went to number one in 1969. | A successful career in television hosting programmes such as The Rolf Harris Show, Cartoon Time and Animal Hospital followed. That was accompanied by a substantial musical output that comprised 30 studio albums and 48 singles – including Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport and Two Little Boys, which went to number one in 1969. |
Harris, who has lived in Bray, Berkshire, for more than 50 years, was awarded an MBE in 1968, an OBE in 1977 and a CBE in 2006. He was made Officer of the Order of Australia in the Queen's birthday honours list last year. | Harris, who has lived in Bray, Berkshire, for more than 50 years, was awarded an MBE in 1968, an OBE in 1977 and a CBE in 2006. He was made Officer of the Order of Australia in the Queen's birthday honours list last year. |
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