Prosecutor says ex-BBC host use fame to assault teenage girls

At the trial of Australian entertainer Rolf Harris, a prosecutor told the court that the British-based celebrity used his status to gain advantage of underage girls and eventually sexually assaulted them.

Prosecutor Sasha Wass said today at criminal court, "Rolf Harris is an immensely talented person, in art, in music and above all in children's entertainment. He took advantage of this fame and popularity to interfere with his victims and to sexually assault them."

The 84 year-old Harris has been charged with 12 counts of indecent assault, Bloomberg reported. Harris allegedly assaulted four girls and a woman whose ages range from 7 to 19 at the time of the assaults between the years 1968 and 1986. BBC News pointed out that seven of the 12 counts filed against the entertainer reportedly were carried out on just one victim, who happens to be the friend of Harris' daughter.

Wass added in court that the former entertainer has a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality in him.

Harris is the latest aging celebrity in the UK who has been tried over allegations of sexual assault, Bloomberg said. Publicist Max Clifford was found guilty of indecent assault charges last month. The charges against Clifford dated back as far as 40 years. Soap star Bill Roache and ex-BBC disc jockey Dave Lee Travis, on the other hand, were acquitted this year from similar charges.

Harris was known as the host of several television programs in the UK, which included "Animal Hospital" on the BCC in the 1990s. He also had written songs like "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport." Harris was arrested last year by detectives who were investigating child abuse in the entertainment industry, the news agency said. The investigations started in 2012 with allegations lodged against the late BBC television star Jimmy Saville. The accusations against Saville triggered a scandal at the largest public broadcaster in the world.

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Rolf Harris, BBC child sexual assault scandal, Animal Hospital host sexual assault scandal

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