Under scrutiny ... Rolf Harris with his daughter Bindi after attending Southwark Crown Court in central London. Picture: Niklas Halle'n Source: AFP
ROLF Harris has been found guilty of sexually assaulting four teenage school girls over an almost 20-year period with a jury unanimously declaring him guilty on all charges in a sensational conclusion to his long running trial.
After eight days of deliberations as the trial entered its eighth week, the six man and six woman jury returned to court 2 of Southwark Crown Court in central London shortly after lunch (local time) to unanimously declare his guilt.
Verdict decided ... Rolf Harris arrives at Southwark Crown Court today in London, England. Picture: Danny E. Martindale Source: Getty Images
The 84-year-old Harris — a household name with more than 50 years in the music, art and TV entertainment industries — was expressionless as Judge Nigel Sweeney asked the jury forewoman for their verdict.
The legendary Australian entertainer showed no emotion as the jury forewoman said "guilty" on each count.
As he left the defendant's dock, Harris managed a reassuring nod and grimace for his family who held hands and comforted each other.
For seven weeks they had heard claims by the prosecution their loved one was a sinister pervert who groomed girls for abuse, and despite making audible remarks and head shakes while victims testified, yesterday they said nothing in the face of the verdict.
Guilty ... Harris arrives with his wife Alwen Hughes (2nd R) and daughter Bindi (L) at Southwark Crown Court in London before hearing the verdict. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
The family's spokesman Abel Hadden asked they be respected and not asked for comment.
"Following today's verdicts, we have been asked to make it clear that neither the Harris family, their lawyers, agents or friends will be making any public comments or being available for interview either here or in Australia," he said.
Harris barrister Sonia Woodley said she would today prepare a report on his medical condition, as she plans to ask for a significant jail sentence reduction on Friday on the grounds of his age and general poor health.
Harris had a mini-stroke some years ago and surgery to put in two stents for artery blockages.
Harris has been granted bail and will be sentenced on Friday.
His family also showed no reaction as the verdict was announced although all sat with heads bowed and held hands.
Harris left the court about an hour and a half after the verdicts, clutching his wife Alwen's hand and that of daughter Bindi as they walked slowly to a waiting car, much in the same way they have done every day during the past eight weeks of his trial.
When asked by News Corp Australia whether he had anything to say, Harris made no comment.
Outside court, emotional jury members hugged each other. Eight weeks ago they were strangers but today they share a bond. Such was the weight of the burden placed upon them to convict the star that the judge said they could be exempt from jury duty, if they chose, for the next 10 years.
Harris' friends and manager Jan Kennedy was also emotional as she hugged supporters outside court.
Harris, charged last year with 12 counts of indecently assaulting four girls from 1968 to 1986, was arrested in 2012 after woman in Australia, England and New Zealand began coming forward with claims in the wake of the high-profile child sex revelations surrounding British entertainer Jimmy Savile and other celebrities in the UK in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.
Jenny Hopkins, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for the CPS in London, said prosecution in such historical cases was always difficult, but she hoped the Harris verdicts would act as a warning to others and provide victims with the courage to come forward no matter when the abuse occurred.
"Rolf Harris used his status and position as a world famous children's entertainer to sexually assault young girls over a period spanning 18 years," Ms Hopkins said.
"The victims in this case have suffered in silence for many years and have only recently found the courage to come forward. I would like to pay tribute to the bravery they displayed in coming to court and giving evidence. That bravery and determination has seen Rolf Harris brought to justice and held to account.
"Each victim, unknown to the others, described a similar pattern of behaviour; that of a man acting without fear of the consequences."
Supported by family ... Rolf Harris, and his daughter Bindi Harris at Southwark Crown Court. Picture: Danny E. Martindale Source: Getty Images
The six male and six female jurors had apparently been struggling with a verdict, judging by the eight questions they put to Judge Sweeney.
On the second day of deliberations, the jury asked what steps needed to be taken toward a majority rule verdict over Judge Sweeney's demand for a unanimous verdict.
He even had to remind them to use their common sense in their approach as they appeared confused with balancing their opinion with the evidence.
The judge suggested they show "courage" in their judgments regardless of the consequences and even felt obliged to remind them that good character of the celebrity was not a defence.
Harris had displayed an almost arrogant jocular approach to proceedings with his singing of Jake the Peg and description of his inventing the wobble board and lengthy regaling in his successes over 50 years of entertainment.
He even laughed at one stage, and had to be reminded it was no laughing matter, when it was put to him he had had oral sex with one victim just metres away from his then teenage sleeping daughter Bindi.
All the women were lying, he said, as he dismissed their evidence as misconstrued his "touchy freely" friendly way.
His mood did change, however, as the trial went on, as did that of his family and supporters who audibly tut-tutted at evidence and even scoffed and murmured "get off" when at least one woman began crying as she recalled her trauma following her alleged indecent assault at the hands of Harris.
There were 38 prosecution witnesses and 15 for the defence. But there were to have been many more for both sides.
During the trial the court heard one victim was 13-years-old when she went on holidays with Harris, his wife Alwen and their daughter and best friend Bindi.
She claimed she was first abused when she stepped out of a shower wearing a towel when in a hotel in Hawaii.
She was shocked to see Harris standing in her room, and he gave her a hug before spitting on his fingers then slipping his hand into her towel and assaulting her.
She had had sex education but could not understand what had happened.
Days later she was on the beach and had walked out of the sea when Harris greeted her with a towel and again hugging her in the towel, slipped his hand into her bikini bottoms.
She was to be assaulted twice more on that trip to Hawaii and Australia.
Harris had complemented her on how she looked lovely in her bikini, an act which Harris himself admitted in his trial was a reference to her body and how he had been sexually attracted to her.
It was a damning admission that the jury was reminded about by Judge Nigel Sweeney in his summing up before they retired to consider their verdict.
None of those assaults, however, formed the basis of the indictments since they happened outside the jurisdiction, but the prosecution maintained they supported the build-up to the at least seven instances of abuse, including some involving the spitting on fingers, that the jury accepted happened in England when the girl was still under 16.
Most of those occurred in Harris' home in Bray west of London as the girl visited his daughter Bindi.
And even after she was over the legal age of consent, there were still more tawdry stories from the same victim that the prosecution said went to the heart of the Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde "dark side" character of Harris, including forcing her to give him oral sex when he pulled over in a breakdown lane on a freeway and on a footpath in the country, an indecent assault in front of a seven year old friend and a masturbating fondle while they sat on the couch with an unknowing Bindi watching television.
Then there was a letter Harris wrote to the victim's father, in which he sought forgiveness; he said it was for having had a relationship with the much younger woman, 35 years his junior, while the prosecution successfully argued it was a confessional letter after grooming the woman for sex since she was 13 years old.
Another victim was eight years old in 1969 when she was allegedly assaulted in a community hall where Harris had been performing Two Little Boys.
She asked for his autograph and when he drew her close he allegedly put his hand around over bottom and forcibly between her legs. He made that motion twice.
A third victim also had her bottom grabbed in the mid-to-late 1970s, when she was about 14 years old and working as a waitress at a TV celebrity sports contest day.
She alleged Harris rubbed her back before squeezing her bottom.
There were six other alleged indecent assaults by Harris including on two Australian make-up artists, a 16-year-old fan and her mother from Newcastle, an 18-year-old traveller in Malta who feared she was about to be raped and a 12-year-old girl from Darwin.
These all occurred outside the jurisdiction of the court but were used by the prosecution to show a "pattern" by the defendant.
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