Everyday thousands of children are being sexually abused. You can stop the abuse of at least one child by simply praying. You can possibly stop the abuse of thousands of children by forwarding the link in First Time Visitor? by email, Twitter or Facebook to every Christian you know. Save a child or lots of children!!!! Do Something, please!

3:15 PM prayer in brief:
Pray for God to stop 1 child from being molested today.
Pray for God to stop 1 child molestation happening now.
Pray for God to rescue 1 child from sexual slavery.
Pray for God to save 1 girl from genital circumcision.
Pray for God to stop 1 girl from becoming a child-bride.
If you have the faith pray for 100 children rather than one.
Give Thanks. There is more to this prayer here

Please note: All my writings and comments appear in bold italics in this colour

Monday, 30 June 2014

Rolf Harris Found Guilty of All 12 Child Sex Abuse Charges

Veteran entertainer Rolf Harris has been found guilty of 12 counts of indecently assaulting four girls in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

One of the victims was a childhood friend of his daughter, while another was aged seven or eight.

The court heard Harris, 84, was a "Jekyll and Hyde" character, who had a dark side to his personality.

Prosecutors said he used his "status and position" to abuse his victims. He will be sentenced on Friday.

The judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, said a custodial term was "uppermost in the court's mind", but he wanted to see a medical report before sentencing.

Harris, who was granted bail, faced a mass of photographers and reporters as he left court in the company of his wife Alwen and daughter Bindi, who had both attended most of the trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The central prosecution allegation concerned a friend of Harris's daughter, whom the court heard he groomed and molested from the age of 13 until she was 19.
Rolf Harris police mugshot 

The other victims told the court they were touched or groped by Harris, sometimes at his public appearances.

The jury deliberated for 37 hours and 45 minutes before reaching their unanimous verdicts.

Harris was found guilty of all 12 charges he was prosecuted on. They were:

Count one: A woman said Harris touched her inappropriately when she was just seven or eight while he was signing autographs in Hampshire in the late 1960s.

Count two: Harris was accused of groping a teenage waitress's bottom at a charity event in Cambridge in the 1970s.

Counts three to nine: A childhood friend of Mr Harris' daughter said he repeatedly indecently assaulted her between the ages of 13 and 19, including once when his daughter was asleep in the same room. He admitted a relationship with the woman, but said it began after she turned 18.

Counts 10 to 12: Australian woman Tonya Lee, who has waived her right to anonymity, said he fondled her three times on one day while she was on a theatre group trip to the UK at the age of 15.

Six other women also told the court about indecent assaults Harris had carried out against them in Australia, New Zealand and Malta. The entertainer was not prosecuted over those incidents but the evidence was introduced by the prosecution as an added illustration of his behaviour.

The verdicts came just before 3pm, almost 38 hours into the jury's deliberations.

Before they were delivered the judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, made it clear to all those inside court two - the journalists, the public, and the relatives of Rolf Harris - that he expected silence throughout the process.

Everyone took him at his word. There was barely a sound as the forewoman stood.

Rolf Harris was allowed to remain seated in the glass-fronted dock, listening as he had throughout his trial, on a headset.
A court sketch of the Rolf Harris jury delivering its verdicts
A short distance away his wife, Alwen Hughes, his daughter Bindi, his niece Jenny and other relatives and supporters looked on.

Twelve times the forewoman of the jury said the word "guilty". Harris remained completely impassive. Bindi widened her eyes, looking stunned. Jenny turned to Harris's wife and gently shook her head.

They had been convinced of his innocence. But the jury was sure of his guilt.

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Harris, from Bray, Berkshire, was first questioned in November 2012 in Scotland Yard's Operation Yewtree investigation set up in the wake of sexual abuse allegations against the late BBC Radio 1 DJ Jimmy Savile.

Although his arrest was unconnected to Savile's offending, the publicity surrounding that case had prompted the friend of Harris's daughter to come forward. The other women contacted police after Harris's arrest in March 2012.

Speaking outside court after the seven-week trial, Jenny Hopkins, deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for London, said: "The victims in this case have suffered in silence for many years and have only recently found the courage to come forward.

"Each victim, unknown to the others, described a similar pattern of behaviour; that of a man acting without fear of the consequences.

"I hope today's verdict provides other victims with the courage and confidence to come forward, no matter who is alleged to have carried out the abuse."

Peter Watt, director of national services at the NSPCC, said the children's charity had had 28 calls about Harris through its helpline, including 13 people who said they had been abused by him.

He added: "All of this was passed to the police, helping them to build their case against Harris, whose actions over the years have seriously damaged the lives of his victims.

"His reckless and brazen sexual offending, sometimes in public places, bizarrely within sight of people he knew, speaks volumes about just how untouchable he thought he was."

Rolf Harris leaving Southwark Crown Court after the verdicts on 30 June 2014
Ms Lee, 43, said the abuse had led her to contemplate taking her own life.

The mother-of-three said: "This has impacted me in ways you can't imagine and in ways that can't be taken back...

"To this day I can't go to sleep without lying in a lounge and having the TV on. I cannot lie in a room and try and sit with my thoughts and go to sleep."
Rolf Harris arrives at court on 30 June 2014 with daughter
Bindi (l), wife Alwen (r) and niece Jenny (second r)
And the childhood friend of Harris's daughter, who has not been named, said: "I am very relieved, that's all I am prepared to say".

A make-up artist who told the trial that she was was repeatedly groped by Harris in Australia told the BBC "justice has finally been done".

Rolf Harris with the Queen and Kylie Minogue
at the Diamond Jubilee concert in June 2012
Harris became known to successive generations after arriving in London from his native Australia at the age of 22 in 1952. He became a fixture on British TV screens as a children's entertainer, songwriter, performer, and became an OBE, MBE and CBE.

Harris painted a portrait of the Queen in 2006 and took part in her Diamond Jubilee concert six years later.

He was awarded a Bafta fellowship two years ago but the academy says it will strip him of the honour in light of the conviction.

In his evidence, Harris reminded the jury of his career, how he had invented the wobble board instrument by accident and popularised the didgeridoo, and talked about his hit records, briefly singing a line from one of them, Jake the Peg.

He denied having sexual contact with his daughter's friend while she was under 16, but said they had consensual sexual contact later. He described himself as a "touchy feely sort of person" and rejected the other women's claims of sexual assault.

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