Rolf
Harris wrote to the father of one of his alleged victims admitting
having an affair with her and apologising for 'the misery I have caused'
but insisting the girl wasn't under-age at the time, a court heard
today.
The
television entertainer said in the letter he believed that everything
that happened between him and the girl 'had progressed from a feeling of
love and friendship', saying: 'There was no rape, no physical forcing,
brutality or beating that took place', the jury was told.
The
bombshell letter, said to have been sent by Harris to the father of a
girl he is alleged to have first assaulted when she was 13, was shown to
a packed courtroom at London's Southwark Crown Court on the first day
of his indecent assault trial.
Harris,
84, of Bray, Berkshire, faces a total of 12 counts of indecent assault
on four alleged victims between 1968 and 1986, all of which he denies.
Rolf Harris appeared at London's Southwark Crown Court today faced with 12 charges of indecent assault
Letter: The prosecutor said he wrote to the father of one alleged victim apologising for causing her 'misery'
Leaving court: Harris left Southwark Crown Court surrounded by family after the first day of his trial
Harris, flanked by daughter Bindi, left, and wife, Alwen Hughes, is accused of 12 counts of indecent assault
BOMBSHELL LETTER: WHAT ROLF HARRIS WROTE TO GIRL'S FATHER
Here is the full text of a letter written by Rolf Harris to the father of one of his alleged victims in March 1997.
'Dear [the father],
'Please
forgive me for not writing sooner. You said in your letter to me that
you never wanted to see me or hear from me again, but now [the alleged
victim] says it's all right to write to you.
'Since that trip up to Norfolk, I have been in a state of abject self loathing. How we delude ourselves.
'I
fondly imagined that everything that had taken place had progressed
from a feeling of love and friendship - there was no rape, no physical
forcing, brutality or beating that took place.
'When
I came to Norfolk, [the alleged victim] told me that she had always
been terrified of me and went along with everything that I did out of
fear of me.
'I
said 'Why did you never just say no?'. And [the alleged victim] said
how could she say no to the great television star Rolf Harris.
'Until she told me that, I had no idea that she was scared of me.
'She laughs in a bitter way and says I must have known that she has always been scared of me. I honestly didn't know.
'[The
alleged victim] keeps saying that this has all been going on since she
was 13. She's told you that and you were justly horrified, and she keeps
reiterating that to me, no matter what I said to the contrary.
'She
says admiring her and telling her she looked lovely in her bathing suit
was just the same as physically molesting her. I didn't know. Nothing
took place in a physical way until we had moved to Highlands. I think
about 1983 or 84 was the first time.
'I can pinpoint a date was 1986, because I remember I was in pantomime at Richmond.
'When
I see the misery I have caused [the alleged victim] I am sickened by
myself. You can't go back and change things that you have done in this
life - I wish to god I could.
'When
I came to Norfolk, spent that time with [the alleged victim] and
realised the enormity of what I had done to [the alleged victim], and
how I had affected her whole life, I begged her for forgiveness and she
said 'I forgive you'.
'Whether she really meant it or not, I don't know. I hope she did, but I fear she can never forgive me.
'I
find it hard to like myself in any way, shape or form. And as I do
these Animal programmes, I see the unconditional love that dogs give to
their owners and I wish I could start to love myself again.
'If
there is any way that I could atone for what I have done I would
willingly do it. If there is a way I can start to help [the alleged
victim] to heal herself, I would willingly do it.
'With
your permission I'll phone you in a week to talk to you. If you hang
up, I will understand, but I would like to talk to you to apologise for
betraying your trust and for unwittingly so harming your darling [the
alleged victim].
'I know that what I did was wrong but we are, all of us, fallible and oh how I deluded myself.
'Please forgive me, love Rolf.
'Please
forgive me for what must have been the most insensitive thing in your
eyes - sending the book for Christmas. Alwen knows nothing about all
this - at the time - and rather than tell her I signed the book and
wrote the platitudes with sinking heart.
'Forgive me.'
The letter is thought to have been sent in March 1997 in reply to a letter from the father of one of the alleged victims.
In
it, the artist confessed to having a sexual relationship with the
woman, and described being in a state of 'self loathing' and feeling
'sickened' by himself for the misery he had caused her.
'You can't go back and change things that you have done in this life - I wish to god I could,' he wrote.
He
apologised to the man for betraying his trust, and added: 'I know that
what I did was wrong but we are, all of us, fallible and oh how I
deluded myself. Please forgive me, love Rolf.'
Jurors were told that Harris took advantage of his celebrity status to 'brazenly' molest four young girls.
The
Australian often indecently assaulted them when others were nearby
because he knew he was 'too big and too powerful' for them to complain,
jurors were told.
Opening
the prosecution case against Harris, Sasha Wass QC said Harris was a
regular fixture on television and his 'glittering career' continued well
into this millennium.
She
described him as an 'immensely talented man' who excelled in art, music
and children's entertainment, and who was made a CBE the year after
painting the Queen's portrait in 2005.
