The trial of veteran television personality Rolf Harris, 86, will begin today at London’s Southwark Crown Court. Harris is accused of sexually assaulting both women and minors, between between 1971 and 2005.
The Australian actor, singer, painter, and children’s television presenter, first began working for the BBC in the 1950s. In the 1960s, he became famous for his song Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport. Harris also presented the award-winning TV series Animal Hospital and his paintings have been exhibited at the National Gallery in London.
Harris was first arrested in March 2013 by police officers working on Operation Yewtree, and charged with 16 counts of indecent assault on teenage girls and of making indecent images of children.
In 2014, Harris was imprisoned on twelve counts of indecent assault that took place between 1968 and 1986, on four female victims aged between eight and nineteen. He is currently serving a five year jail sentence at HMP Stafford, one of England’s eight sex offender-only prisons.
Judge Alistair McCreath has granted Harris’ request to appear at his latest trial by video link on the grounds of the octogenarian’s age and health.
The Perth-born entertainer has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of indecent assault and one other charge of sexual touching, allegedly committed between 1971 and 2004.
The alleged offences relate to seven females aged between 12 and 27. Three of the charges relate to alleged indecent assaults on girls under the age of 14 and one relates to an alleged indecent assault on a disabled woman outside a hospital in 1977.
