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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Indecent Assault of Minor |
Sentence: |
9 months |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.5 |
Year Crime: |
1969 |
Year Convicted: |
2014 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
United Kingdom |
County or Region of Crime: |
England |
City of Crime: |
Portsmouth |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated (Not released due to other charges.) |
Summary of Case: |
"Rolf Harris was wrongly convicted in June 2014 of indecent assault for allegedly groping an eight-year-old girl in Portsmouth, England in 1969. At the time of his trial Harris was 84 years old. Harris was a well-known televsion personality in England, and in 2006 he was awarded the CBE. Harris' prosecution was solely based on the testimony of the alleged victim that he gropped her 45 years previously when she said she went to a community center in Portsmouth seeking his autograph. Harris denied the charge. After his conviction by a jury Harris was sentenced on July 4, 2014 to nine months in prison. On November 16, 2017 the Court of Criminal Appeals for England and Wales quashed Harris' conviction on the basis the prosecution introduced insufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court noted that the her father testified that he never would have allowed her to attend the event where she was allegedly groped, and two ex-police officers testified that Harris was not at the community center. The appeals court affirmed Harris' convictions during the same trial of indecent assault against three other females who were teenagers at the time of the alleged crimes: 1) A teenage waitress in the 1970s for which he was sentenced to six months in prison; 2) A teenager who was the daughter of a childhood friend of Harris', for which he was sentenced to eight years in prison; and, 3) A 15-year-old teenager in 1986, for which he was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison. With a combining of sentences the total amount to be served in prison was five years nine months." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On November 16, 2017 the Court of Criminal Appeals for England and Wales quashed Harris' conviction on the basis the prosecution introduced insufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court noted that the her father testified that he never would have allowed her to attend the event where she was allegedly groped, and two ex-police officers testified that Harris was not at the community center." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
84 |
Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"R v Rolf Harris, [2017] EWCA Crim 1849, Case No. 2014/3548/B2 (Court of Appeal (Criminal Div. for England and Wales, 11-16-2017) (Quashing conviction for alleged indecent assault committed in 1969.)" |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/judgments/r-v-rolf-harris-2/ |
Information Source 2: |
"Rolf Harris has one child sex conviction quashed, but can't appeal others, By Nick Miller, Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, Aus.), November 16 2017" |
Information Location 2: |
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/98975662/rolf-harris-has-one-child-sex-conviction-quashed-but-cant-appeal-others |
Information Source 3: |
"Rolf Harris jailed for five years and nine months, By Staff, BBC News, July 4, 2014" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-28163593 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org