Is it worth the expense?

Printmiss He admitted abusing 18 young men.
Yes, it's worth it.

So you don't believe he should be punished for what he did? The young men he abused are still suffering. Just because someone is old doesn't mean they should not be made to pay for their crimes. If he had not been exposed when he was, how many other young men would he have abused? He is where he belongs.

To take your argument to its logical conclusion would mean no-one would be in prison because it costs too much - not really workable is it?

Do you think Rolf Harris should not have been jailed, PRINTMISS?

He will only serve half of the sentence, everyone ( almost) does these days.
Yes, he had to have a prison sentence regardless of age, due to the seriousness of his crimes, what it costs us shouldn't matter.

I understand the point you are making PRINTMISS and it has a valid point.

However I feel that age should not be a barrier to being arrested, tried and given a custodial sentence.

The only reason he obtained the age of 83 is purely down to the fact 'he got away with it' for so long. He should have been arrested years ago so he has been a lucky man in retrospect.

My sympathy lies with the boys in this particular case.

Yes he deserved it, I'd have thrown away the key.

It should have been longer, he continually lied and got away with it for years. He knew exactly what he was doing- of course he's 'sorry' now, but only because he eventually got caught.

Tragically one of his victims killed himself because of what this pervert did to him, completely ruined a young man's life.

It's worth every penny it costs to give some justice to the young men he abused!

I agree perpetrators should be punished, he is old, and will not have a good end of life in prison, 4 years is a long time for an 83 year old, o.k. so he is going to get his punishment, according to the law, I still think that putting people of that age into prison is causing pressure on a system which is bursting at the seams. I did not say that he should not be punished, it is the length of the term, the of age of the man, and the care he will need, incurring extra costs that concerns me. He has been exposed as a someone who preyed on young people and lies. Perhaps those people are pleased he is in prison and they feel justified, I hope so for their sakes, as I said no one can know what they suffered and how it affected their lives.

I think age should be considered as to how they are housed in prison. In the U.S. We just had a 11 year old boy shoot and kill a 8 year old girl. How should he be treated?

Just because someone is very old...it does not absolve them of the guilt of their crimes. Also gaining justice for the victims is so important - they need to feel they are finally believed and that their sufferings have been recognised.

My only problem with certain (not this one of course) historic cases is that there have been a few spurious accusations and reputations have been affected. Evidence must be gathered tactfully, but once there is decent corroboration then these crimes must be resolved and the perpetrators punished.

There may be an argument that our present prison system is not up to accommodation very elderly prisoners, but that is really a separate issue.

This is how the justice system works, thank goodness.

He committed crimes, and quite honestly I think that the sentence is far too lenient.
Don't fret about it, he may not cost that much in the end.

I think it is important that people who break the law know that age is no bar to punishment. It is likely that he would need state aid anyway at some stage.

Commit the crime do the time. Absolutely no sympathy.

With a bit of luck he will die soon and then he won't cost us anything! I've worked with sex offenders and non protecting mothers too. You'll get no sympathy from me I'm afraid especially when you hear them justifying their actions as if they're in the right

Yes, it's worth the expense, for the sake of his victims as hildaw says.

I tell you if I had been the mother of one of his victims who committed suicide, I would have wanted far worse to happen to him than a prison sentence. The sooner he dies the better IMO.

An example has to be set, perpetrators of any crime, but especially sexual offences need to to know that when they are caught they will be punished no matter how long ago they offended.

Men and women in their 90s are still being tried and punished for war crimes dating to WW2 - and that is how it should be.