Rolf Harris

I agree that no one is all good or all bad. But the simple fact is that RH has knowingly and deliberately ruined some people's lives with his actions. I know where my sympathies lie and they are not with him.

The difficulty is that the crimes he committed were to some degree dependent on his credibility as an all-round good egg; his status as kindly uncle Rolf is part of the problem. The two are inextricably linked.

In the main I agree that everyone is a mixture of good and bad; but I think that what is exercising people's minds about RH is that fact that his very "goodness" was why he was able to perpetrate his "badness."

This is why it causes such strong reactions I think. It is hard to give him credit for his good side, because he used it to commit these crimes.

I do not think it is a media witch hunt - he used the media to bolster his image and this in turn was used to commit his crimes - the reaction of the media will equate to his high profile - and here is no reason to think that he did not encourage this high profile. If I committed a crime there would be commensurately less interest since no-one knows who the hell I am and I have not sought publicity.

Part of me feels sorry for him - he clearly had a weakness that will blight this latter phase of his life and cause his family untold misery. All sexual offenders are victims of their own inclinations, which, in the main, they are not responsible for - but they are responsible for their actions and the effects that these have on others.

He has his sentence - I think it is quite lenient to be honest. But the due process of the law has run its course and that is how it should be.

I'm not sure about the mass hysteria theory, petallus, but I do agree with Rowantree's post. My problem is that throughout the whole trial he seems to have shown no remorse, despite that handwritten letter to the father of the girl he molested when she was only 13.

He seemed to be in denial even when found guilty - it's so much easier to feel compassion for someone who has realised/admitted that they've committed terrible crimes.

Excellent post Rowantree. Of course people aren't wholly good or bad, but a mixture of the two.

I have felt quite disturbed by some of the reactions to this case.

I sometimes feel as though a mass hysteria has gripped the country.

Good post Rowantree. I agree.

I'm going to stick my neck out here (and probably have my head decapitated in the process)
Not for a second am I condoning RH's behaviour and he had to have a custodial sentence. However....I am very uncomfortable at some of the reactions of people. It's one thing to feel disgust at his crimes; but nobody is the WHOLE SUM of their wrongdoing. I am doubtful whether he 'pretended' to be a nice person, as some have suggested; the truth is that people are all complicated and complex and a mixture of good and bad. He was possibly - though we will probably never know - in denial that he'd committed crimes; not that that's any excuse, but it would have enabled him to live his public life of the amiable, artistic entertainer as he wanted to be known. Then again, maybe that isn't the case at all. I'm just trying to say, rather inarticulately, that people who commit crimes are never wholly bad or wholly evil and IMO it's a mistake to assume they are one or t'other. Some of the press would have us believe otherwise, but I think it's best to distance ourselves from their lynch-mob approach. They are masters at building up personalities for us to worship, and then knocking them down again when they fall from grace (though I know that RH's fall is of his own doing - it's the response to it I'm thinking about here).
I don't know if any of that makes any sense, but that's my thinking, for what it's worth.

Isn't it the case that the Sexual Offences Act 2003 amended the law so that the crimes mentioned now include 'a child under 13' rather than 'a girl under 13'. Also rape includes penetration of the vagina, anus and mouth. Boys can be and are raped all too frequently.

Thanks for that link when.

I had no idea there were so many offences which carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. It would be interesting to know average sentences for the offences in the list but I don't expect you to have those statistics at your fingertips and might google later.

I noticed that under the sexual offences section, more mention was made of girls than boys. For instance incest with a girl under 13 by a man or woman, or by a man with a girl over 13 was mentioned, but nothing about boys. Attempted sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 years carried a penalty of 7 years but there was no mention of a similar offence with boys.

Yes, I know technically it is not possible to have sexual intercourse with a male person, but even so!

I am sure you are an excellent judge of all human behaviour Nonu.

Off to watch footie, see you later peeps !

He jolly well deserves all he gets, blow all the flim-flam, is/was not a

decent person in any way shape or form !!

I think that sounds very just. Although I think I would rather not have read it.

Thank you when.

Grannytwice could you elaborate please?

I will as I am wont to do , still donm"t get it !

Quite Nonu

Judge's sentencing remarks:

www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/sentencing-remarks-mr-j-sweeney-r-v-harris1.pdf

Granny
petallus - groping? Groping?

Not sure what point you making !

I agree Ana, I'm surprised, a very lenient sentence.

Petallus - groping? Groping?

Well, considering that he could have been sentenced to 14 years for the sexual assault of child under 13, I'd say it was pretty lenient, too!

'Unduly lenient' complaint!

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10944530/Rolf-Harris-jailed-for-five-years-and-nine-months.html

Jingl - no she didn't and she said she didn't tell anyone because it wasn't that serious. She was working for the BBC but didn't mention it to them because she thought there was no point, it was just another dirty old man. I think he was about sixty and she was in her 20s. She has never made a complaint nor does she intend to, she was just giving an account of what happened.

This thread is getting gossipy now.

"the ring of truth about it".

Right.

KatyK did she go to the police at the time? Or a newspaper? She was a grown woman. These historical offences are too difficult to prove now.

Btw I would include "vulnerable" adults. Goes without saying.