Former Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes will likely spend the next six years in jail after he lost his appeal against convictions for the sexual and indecent assaults of young girls.
The 67-year-old child abuser was jailed for at least six years in 2014 after a jury found him guilty of 10 charges relating to sexual and indecent acts perpetrated on four young girls in the 1980s and 1990s.
Judge Peter Zahra at the time described the once-popular sitcom actor as a sexual predator who systematically exploited young girls and then relied on his position to ensure the compliance and silence of his victims.
After being convicted Hughes launched an appeal, challenging his conviction and sentence on a number of grounds, including that the judge erred when he allowed all the counts against him to be heard in a single trial and that he also should have permanently stayed the proceedings.
Comments on news sites like: "Lock the pedo up, Once a pedo always a pedo, Lock him up so he can't ruin any more lives and Hang the pedo," meant Hughes could never have received a fair trial, his barrister Phillip Boulten SC said.
But the Court of Criminal Appeal on Monday sided with Judge Zahra and rejected the appeal, agreeing with his comment that "with appropriate directions, despite the sustained and prejudicial nature of the publicity here, a fair trial can be ensured".
"Despite the nature and extent of pre-trial publicity established on the evidence, there was not a serious risk that it would deprive the accused of a fair trial," Chief Justice Tom Bathurst and Justices Margaret Beazley and Paul Hidden wrote in their judgment.
"The changes to Australian society wrought by the digital revolution (including the rise of the internet and various forms of social media), and the consequent explosion in publicity in notable criminal trials, should not diminish the commitment of the criminal justice system to trial by jury."
Hughes also appealed the length of his sentence, but the court on Monday found no problem.
Hughes, who did not appear at Monday's hearing in Sydney, needs urgent medical attention for a hernia and has lost a lot of weight while waiting to see a doctor, solicitor Greg Walsh said outside the court following the decision.
"He needs urgent operative care," he said.
Mr Walsh said he would visit Hughes soon and indicated another appeal, this time to the High Court, could be on the cards.
"There are some really fundamental issues in this case," he said.
Hughes was sentenced for a maximum of 10 years and nine months, but will first be eligible for release in April 2020, when he will be aged 71.
