Rolf Harris sex assault cases timeline

A timeline of Rolf Harris' sex assault cases, 2012-2017.

TIMELINE OF ROLF HARRIS SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES:

2012

Nov 29 - Harris interviewed by officers from Operation Yewtree five days after his Berkshire property was searched.

2013

March 28 - Arrested and quizzed by Met Police detectives but not charged.

April 19 - Harris named for the first time by London's Sun newspaper as the Australian entertainer previously arrested.

April 27 - Harris dumped as the face of British Paints.

May 2 - British police interview witnesses in Australia.

Aug 5 - Re-arrested and bailed again following "further allegations" of historical sex abuse.

Aug 8 - Replaced as host of British TV show Animal Clinic.

Aug 29 - Harris is charged with nine counts of indecently assaulting two girls aged 14 and 15 in the 1980s and four counts of making indecent photographs of a child in 2012.

Sept 23 - Appears in court, his lawyer says he will plead "not guilty".

Dec 22 - Prosecutors reveal Harris is to face three additional indecent assault charges involving two new alleged victims one aged "seven or eight" and dating back to 1968.

2014

Jan 14 - In court Harris delivers a loud and clear "not guilty" to each of the 12 indecent assault charges. He is not arraigned on the four indecent images charges.

May 6 - Trial begins at Southwark Crown Court.

June 30 - Harris convicted of 12 indecent assaults.

July 5 - Harris jailed for five years and nine months for the sex abuse, which means he will serve just under three years.

Sept - UK Attorney-General's Office confirms the sentence would not be referred to the Court of Appeal for being unduly lenient.

Dec 12 - Harris abandons appeal of his convictions.

2015

Feb 5 - Officers from Operation Yewtree interview Harris in jail over more allegations of sexual offences.

Feb 23 - Australia's Governor-General Peter Cosgrove strips Harris of his Order of Australia honours.

March - Harris stripped of his CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) awarded by the Queen in 2006.

2016

Feb 12 - The Crown Prosecution Service announces that Harris will face a further seven indecency charges.

March 17 - Harris pleads not guilty to all the charges in Westminster Magistrates Court.

Dec 15 - In what is believed to be a UK legal first, Harris is granted leave by Judge Alistair McCreath to appear at his upcoming trial by video-link from Stafford Prison.

2017

Jan 9 - Harris's second trial begins in Southwark Crown Court on seven charges of indecent assault and one alternative charge of sexual assault.

Feb 8 - Harris is found not guilty of three groping charges but the jury fails to reach majority verdicts on four other counts and is discharged. Judge McCreath sets a hearing date of February 15 to determine if a retrial should be held on the outstanding counts.


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Source: AAP



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