Rolf Harris charged with assaulting children, making indecent images

British Police have formally charged Australian entertainer Rolf Harris with indecent assault against children and making indecent images of a child.

Harris will appear in he Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 23, facing six counts of alleged indecent assault on a 15-year old girl between 1980 and 1981 and three counts of the alleged assault of a 14-year old girl in 1986.

He will also face four charges of making indecent images of a child, relating to alleged incidents in 2012.

The charges carry maximum prison sentences of between five and ten years.

Harris is yet to comment on the charges.

Allegations against Rolf Harris came to light earlier this year when he was investigated as a part of Operation Yewtree, following child sex abuse allegations made against late BBC TV presenter Jimmy Savile.

Rolf Harris has been a prominent figure on UK television for more than 40 years. He was honoured with an MBE in 1986, an OBE in 1997 and upgraded to a CBE in 2007. More recently he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s birthday list, just last year.

He was one of the first Australian performers to have a hit song in Australia, the UK and USA. His song ‘Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport’ reached number 1 in Australia, 3 in the USA and 9 in the UK in 1960.

In a statement released on Thursday, Alison Saunders from the Crown Prosecution Service there was enough evidence against Harris to expect conviction.

“We have determined that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.”