Rolf Harris

Just heard it on the radio news too.

How deep does all this paedoplilia and sex abuse go? The more "cuddly" or avuncular the individual the likelier he seems to be a foul abuser. Can you trust anybody?

Going off at a tangent here but have just returned from Newmarket and found my stay there clouded by the fact that Soham was nearby; every time we passed close by it I felt a terrible sadness pass over me .

I have felt that when passing Soham Tegan. What a terrible terrible crime that was

I am really shocked about Rolf Harris.

Tegan I know that feeling. DD2 had a friend who lived in a nearby village. The girl was an epileptic who died after having a fit on her way home from her leaving do. She was leaving to move to Italy to marry her lovely Italian boyfriend after a few fairly troubled years due to her mother dying. I will drive miles rather than go through her village because I cry!

I had that reaction when last year I drove home through Machynlleth in Wales where that five year old girl was killed. ?in 2013? In the town there were still yellow ribbons about. It's another town that still seemed sad.

Re Rolf Harris, As the trial progressed the more evidence I heard the more guilty he sounded.

Yes, you can trust most people, Soutra. Most cuddly, avuncular men are just that. Some men might have traditional or sexist views about women and children but they also have boundaries and know you don't cross them, even if the opportunity presents itself. Aware, responsible men who understand risk to children will usually try to close down opportunities to make potential victims safer. Anonymised questionnaires conducted over decades have consistently found that many men might think about inappropriate sexual behaviour but banish those fleeting thoughts and wouldn't put them into action and the majority are as repulsed by paedophilia as the rest of us.

But, yes, there's a lot of it about

I am shocked and upset by this verdict, not because I dont believe he is innocent, but because as I posted on here some week's earlier, I truly didnt think he had done it. I feel that my own radar has let me down, does anyone know what I mean? I was repulsed by Savile before the ghastly revelations, repulsed by Max Clifford, but not by Rolf Harris. Now that my own instincts have let me down, I dont know who, if anyone, is what they seem.

Gill, I know how you feel. Is anyone trustworthy any more?

But yes, of course they are, it just shakes your faith and makes you question your instincts the more you hear about terrible cases.

I wonder what the sentence will be.

Five years I reckon, unless his age is taken into account.

I often think that ones instincts can be very reliable, however, in the case of celebrities that have only been seen on the TV or other media that image is carefully manipulated. If met personally, instincts would probably have kicked in. I hope so, anyway.

I hope so MiceElf, would hate to think my radar had let me down. I think Rosequartz that he will get a very hefty sentence as he basically called the victims fantasists and liars, so like Stuart Hall ( another one who made my flesh crawl), he could be in for a long sentence. I feel for his daughter who has believed her Father over her friend, what a betrayal.

Like Savile, I expect there were a few blind eyes being turned although on a much smaller scale. Harris was not always TV gold and it's a wonder there was no speculation or rumour during his career's leaner periods.

It makes me very angry when I think of all those years he was basking in the limelight when all the time his poor victims must have been wondering whether anyone would believe them if they plucked up the courage to speak out.

Many years ago I used to begin a training session by asking the participants, in pairs, to describe what a typical child abuser might look like. Then I would explain that a child abuser looks like anyone in the room - there is no 'typical'. The very first case of child sexual abuse I came across was perpetrated against his daughter by a senior legal official.
I really didn't want to believe this of Rolf Harris, but I have no doubt at all that he's guilty as charged because I know how hard it is for the prosecution to get a conviction.

merlot There were rumours about Rolf Harris, because I remember them circulating - I can't remember where they came from, or what exactly they were about. I have a dim memory that it was boys, not girls, but I would not swear to it, and it was only rumours. But I do remember that shortly after these rumours, he vanished from our TV screens in this country for a long time, so I suspect that someone, somewhere, had doubts about him. It could have been, to be fair, just that he had been overused on TV and new talent was needed.

So Harris guilty on all counts. I hope this disgusting man is put away for a long time. His conduct, and that of the others of his ilk, has disgraced mankind. How any husband and father could have carried on like that, particularly in the presence of his own daughter, is beyond me. I have nothing more to say on this matter for the time being.

One of my granddaughters goes to school in Soham. Her mother reasoned that any kids there would now be very safe.

Yes, durhamjen The Soham community has moved on from an horrific crime in a way that does them enormous credit. It's a good place for children to grow up with very good schools and opportunities.

We paid a visit to Wicken Fen yesterday and I'm totally captivated by it and must go back when I can spend more time there. I'm pleased to hear that Soham has moved on; it was just such a shock to see the name and remember what had happened, especially as it's such a beautiful place for a child to be brought up. We had a paedophile take over our village post office; he and his wife joined the church etc etc but there were rumours right from the beginning. I found it so hard to believe; as has been said, there's no 'typical' child abuser.

Woodwalton Fen is worth a visit, too, Tegan. We lived near there for ten years, and I studied environmental science there.

What a task the Judge and Jury had with this case, particularly in view of the 'celebrity witch hunt' some folks believe is going on.
Sadly, sex offenders live amongst us, looking, and usually, behaving just like everyone around them. There is, as whenim64 said, a lot of it about. Those of us who have worked with offenders, victims and their families have learned the hard way, that whilst some offenders hit the alarm button in those around them, many don't.

Like Elegran I too remember there were some rumours of Rolf Harris.

Can our instincts come into play with people we have never met? I know it sounds cynical but it is called SHOW business after all. I doubt you ever see the real person. It has just said on the news that Rolf's daughter was only supporting him for 'show'. As I have said on here before believe none of what you hear and half of what you see. These offenders are very clever.