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.”
theneedleblog 
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“No evidence” entertainer at events
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27541102
“the octopus”… woman “laughed off” the incident http://www.turfcraft.com.au/news/metro/national/general/second-female-radio-host-says-rolf-harris-acted-inappropriately/2699767.aspx
“he groped me”…”I can stand up and say at the age of 45, I couldn’t at the age of 31 or whenever it was, this is not on…”
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/rolf-harris-groped-me-former-perth-radio-host-20140526-zro4t.html
Bill Roache (unanimously cleared) was “like an octopus”
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/17/bill-roache-octopus-sexual-abuse-trial-coronation-street
I’m one of those who is really saddened by this case and would like to believe RH is innocent. I’m confused by the lack of tv news coverage though, last night ITV main 6.30pm news I don’t think the case even got a mention, if it did it was seconds. Wonder why this is ?.
Also, reading today that he allegedly abused a girl in Portsmouth at an event. It’s said he’d never visited Portsmouth at the time – now surely that can’t be hard to prove ?. Either he was there or he wasn’t !.
What on earth…?! (And only the sixth one so far!)
I’ll tell my old man to stay home in future ;-)
Your old man is gojam?!?!?!
Reblogged this on Bond007.
Oh…
“Ms Wass said that, on arrest, Mr Harris “categorically” denied having sexual contact with the girl while she was under 16, and said his letter to her father expressed regret because they had an affair later and he was a “married man”.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27340134
“Untouchable”: http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/TV-star-thought-untouchable/story-21082001-detail/story.html
“Jekyll and Hyde”: http://news.sky.com/story/1258248/rolf-harris-letter-i-am-sickened-by-myself
On the other hand: http://www.smh.com.au/world/rolf-harris-trial-alleged-victim-denies-blackmail-attempt-20140513-zrbnh.html
“Final straw”: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/jubilee-final-straw-for-rolf-harris-accuser/story-e6frg6so-1226915438244
So June 2012 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2154748/Diamond-Jubilee-Concert-Rolf-Harris-says-Queen-looking-better-I-am.html). But Google search results for [“Rolf Harris” police] for January to August 2012 show nothing on this subject (https://www.google.com/search?q=%22rolf+harris%22+police&lr=&safe=active&hl=en&as_qdr=all&sa=X&ei=O_txU7DtKKzxygPD7YGQBg&ved=0CBwQpwUoBg&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2012%2Ccd_max%3A8%2F31%2F2012&tbm=), with the first reports (Gojam’s top of the list!) in November 2012 (https://www.google.com/search?q=%22rolf+harris%22+police&lr=&safe=active&hl=en&as_qdr=all&sa=X&ei=UvtxU5qeOYfwygOmx4GwBw&ved=0CBwQpwUoBg&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A9%2F1%2F2012%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F31%2F2012&tbm=#as_qdr=all&hl=en&lr=&q=%22rolf+harris%22+police&safe=active&start=0&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:9/1/2012,cd_max:12/31/2012). That was after the Savile story broke in September/October, with references to him being an untouchable (https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=%22rolf+harris%22+untouchable&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=active&tbs=&as_filetype=&as_rights=#as_qdr=all&hl=en&lr=&q=%22jimmy+savile%22+untouchable&safe=active) and even a Jekyll and Hyde (https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=%22jimmy+savile%22+untouchable+feared&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=active&tbs=&as_filetype=&as_rights=#as_qdr=all&hl=en&lr=&q=%22jimmy+savile%22+jekyll+-harris+-rolf&safe=active).
Yes I am interested in the outcome
Although not important to the case I wonder how things stand with De Monfort Fine Art/ Whitewall Galleries who have RH as their main man. Since the hints about his questioning in Nov 12 the web (twitter etc) has been full of stories, including this letter. People who purchased art after this time but were unaware of the news may now feel upset that they should have been told what was happening. No need for daft comments about his artwork – everybody likes different styles – but where do they stand now, if he’s found guilty?. I’m sure DeMonfort knew what was going on.
Good point AnneS. The gallery owners and management would have known about the arrest in Nov 2012. Yet they were still advertising that his art would be a good investment in their Galleries in March 2013. Paintings were still being sold for very high figures 4 months after the arrest. If questions were asked in a gallery regarding the arrest and allegations, a customer was told “people will say anything” “its all just rumours” “the press just make things up” “he’s fine and painting every day at home”. His reputation is an important part of deciding the value of his art. His work is now nowhere to be seen in the galleries.
The gallery still advertise their art generally as an Investment – quoting a line from Warren Buffett in the in-store poster. Would you Invest in a company if the CEO had just been arrested on these charges? Wait until the trial is over. Let’s hear the thoughts of customers who thought they were investing in a safe bet.
While the newspaper reports seem to assume that Harris wrote the letter, the BBC refers to it as a letter which Harris is “said to have written” (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27340134, http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-the-papers-27353648). If the letter is in Harris’ handwriting then it would surely be authentic, but none of the reports indicate that. If it was typed, did he write it? If it was given to the police in an envelope with a 1997 postmark, did that envelope originally contain that letter? It just seems too good to be true in the circumstances, with a kind of gushy tone you wouldn’t normally expect from a man, and apparently written by a celeb who didn’t might risking it being sent to the police or sold to the likes of the News of the World.
Humbert Humbert or an aging man who got the signals wrong?
Since the accused in this case is not Jewish are we now going to have dozens of people posting on here about the dangers of a sinister worldwide Gentile conspiracy? And if not; why not?
We tend to keep the anti-Semitic stuff off the comments.
most of those on my” conspirators list” are gentile.
race (whatever that is supposed to be),consensual sexuality,religion and politics or negative opinion of others re such things are irrelevant when seeking truth.
if information is useful one’s like or dislike of the messenger’s beliefs should be put aside as irrelevant and the truth of the information assessed on it’s own merit.
i welcome the messenger and try to assess the message and once assessed put it into a context that is useful.
in many ways the emphasis on the “celebrity” aspect is smoke and mirrors which helps to conceal very dark use of blackmail and reward in other matters.
I don’t see why not.
There are sinister worldwide Gentile conspiracies.
Those that are powerful will obviously exercise that power in order to further their own interests.
The powerful lobbies do include the Zionist lobby, Saudi lobby, Banking and global corporate lobbies among others.
These lobbies sometimes have overlapping agendas and not unsurprisingly sometimes the different interests conflict.
The great unwashed take the consequences.
This seems quite damning and it sounds as though the defense will have their work cut out for them. Harris is one of the very few implicated in all of this (the other being the gifted folk/rock musician Roy Harper, whose trial has yet to commence) that I’d kind of hoped was innocent.
“Since that trip up to Norfolk…..[the alleged victim] said how could she say no to the great television star Rolf Harris… 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…as I do these Animal programmes…”
Though apparently written 17 years ago, the idea of not being able to say no to a feared TV star is very topical in the post-Savile climate. The geographical references and dates, and going to the trouble of “pinpointing” a date and where he was performing, and mentioning doing “these Animal programmes” at the time of writing is a real gift. It’s as if he’s saying “yes, it’s me, Rolf Harris, here”. Like a backup for his signature. Just as well he knew when he wrote this confession to some undefined physical thing that left no trace and was unknown to his wife that he would have a good 20 years before it went anywhere near the police or courts. Very neat indeed. If it was on the wall of an art gallery, people might say “Wow, now that looks like incriminating evidence!”
On the positive – Rolf has known for nearly 20 years that the dad/brother(s)/family of his (alleged) victim was going to get him (either by the law or kick his head in) that is Karma! (i.e already done a 20 year stretch)
Why so long for the Father to produce this Letter?
fucked – that is the smoking gun (I hope, fancy shagging a friend of your daughters? NO!!!!!)
MOST LIKELY PENNED BY HIS COUNCIL?
“Please forgive me for what must have been the most insensitive thing in your eyes – sending the book for Christmas”. >>Just doesn’t get it does he?