Rolf Harris

He has not been proven guilty.... So I stand by what I say..trial by gossip.

Absolutely Ana

How can it be 'trial by gossip' when he has admitted having an affair with his best friend's daughter. That may not be illegal, but most people will find it distasteful to say the least and it will have changed their view of him.

The idea that rock stars and their entourage should protect underage girls is normal today but was unheard of in the 60s/70s.

Trial by gossip?

Whether he's guilty or not, enough has come out ( undisputed) about his sexual behaviour with girls mush younger than himself. Regardless of the final verdict, I could never look at him in the same way again

Just like Saville there have been rumours of Rolf Harris and his behaviour for years.
And regarding groupies in the 60's, 70's and beyond, some looked so obviously under age they should have been protected by the adult 'stars' and their entourage. Not taken advantage of at the first opportunity.
Or we are in grave danger of saying they 'asked for trouble.' Young teens can think they are in love, grown up but they are still young girls. It's up to the adults to restrain themselves.

Perhaps you are taking fandom a bit too far?

Oh come on Blue! We are women, not saints. If someone so much in the public eye gets into this kind of mess, we are bound to talk about it. Just like the rest of the country.

Well time and the jury will tell in this instance .
A lot of people will be sadly disillusioned if R H is found guilty. Hopefully the accusers will not cash in and write their memoirs ...god help us.
But to pull him and his family to bits before any verdict is just , well tacky . It appeals to the lowest denominator in human beings...kick em while they are down... Bit sad really.

My best friend from school (I am afraid to say) thinks it is OK for men to pinch bottoms, stroke them and 'playfully' slap their behinds. She says she has been groped on many occasion and it 'didn't do her harm' Well lucky her, I told her, I certainly let any groper in the office (I was only 16) let him know what I thought.

As for bands, I was once (aged 16) asked if I would like to meet a very famous band at the time. The guy who asked me was something to do with sound. I was excited until he said that one of them (the best looking by the way) would want 'something in return'. I was quite an innocent 16 year old but knew what he meant and declined the offer of a meeting with the band.

I used to live near the Health Club where Mr Saville visited. A friend's daughter (15) had a weekend job there and was apparently abused by him.

The girls could be biding their time . There must be many members of those groups who are feeling nervous now. I'm sure they didn't bother to check out the girls' birth certificates.

It is astonishing to me that when the activities of various bands, cricket and football teams and so on were given so much publicity in the 60s and 70s there haven't been hundreds of complaints already! Perhaps the news stories weren't true?

One of Max Clifford's victims was recently paid £30,000 for selling their story.

Were the medical staff who 'worked that one out' trained psychologists/psychiatrists?

In my training as a counselling psychologist it was drummed into us not to jump to conclusions.

I sometimes feel alarmed when a poster confidently, and without any hint of a doubt, makes a psychological diagnosis/interpretation without ever having met the people involved.

In all the years I worked with 'clients' I was never 100 percent sure of anything and I saw some of them for several years.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

She didn't know it caused the breakdown jing - the medical staff worked that one out.
What's a completely normal life?

There may be some fishing for money, but I'm sure any fantasies of that type are hugely outweighed by the genuine numbers of individuals who have experienced abuse.

It's one thing if it is a child involved. Quite another when it's someone over the age of consent who could have got herself out of the way of it.

How did she know that that caused the breakdown? It is possible to live a completely normal life after childhood abuse.

There has got to be some fishing for money in some of this. Probably in a lot of it.

Well said when.

If JS's legacy means that more individuals are aware of the extent of sexual abuse, then that's the only positive thing to come out of the whole awful saga.

One of my close work colleagues had a history of child sexual abuse. No - one knew. She was a great worker, but in her 50's, her childhood experiences broke free of whatever mechanisms she'd successfully used till that point. She had a significant breakdown. Just saying

I suppose the next thing will be a plethora of groupies who followed a lot of the groups from the sixties , seventies etc , now complaining that they were taken advantage of !!!

It isn't only celebrities - there are thousands of sex offenders in prison, convicted of historical abuse of children. Press people who sit in court have to choose which one they're going to cover, so they go for the one most likely to sell papers. In some crown courts there will only be one or two members of the press checking out what's listed, in others there are none, hence no publicity.

No of course not... But if a prosecution was brought for every case of this type going back into history. The courts would be full and a waiting list a mile long and the jails full to overflowing. What I don't understand is why is it only celebrities?
As I also said in this country we are innocent until proven guilty.

Blue22 - so pleased your life wasn't ruined - that makes everything all right then doesn't it?

In this country we are innocent until proven guilty.

Hello everyone.
Rolf Harris's wife, I don't think she is a well lady , She is under enormous strain. I wish her well.
A thought from a newbie.........
Over the years ( and many of them ) . I have been groped, touched up, held, on one occasion against a wall with very unwanted attentions, . Sadly this is reasonably normal .
A lot of men think that women are Fair Game and why not try it on. ( the first time some one did this I was eight years old ).
Guess what, it has not ruined my life, it has not driven me to drink and I have grown up into a reasonably normal human being.
Because of the Jimmy Savile horror, a witch hunt is going on .Bad stuff happens , most women at some time in their lives have to deal with it .
These women who have made accusations after so many years who are , in my opinion out for blood, money, notoriety
What about all the unknown men who have done this , why are they not in court ? . Answer , they are not celebrities no kudos in prosecuting them.. What a sad old world we live in.
In no way do I condone or want to belittle any of the people who have been harmed by Savile he was a complete monster.