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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

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Original poster

To hear that they have charged rolf harris

80 replies

londonrach · 29/08/2013 12:53

Was a massive fan of rolf harris in the 1980s watching his art shows after school. I cant believe he has now been charged with activity from the 1980 to last year. Am i being unreasonable to be upset on hearing this news despite the fact ive never meet him.

OP posts:

Feminine · 29/08/2013 13:17

hey yes, I don't think I'll be that surprised the next time another one gets found out!

Its dreadful that we are getting more used to it.

specialsubject · 29/08/2013 13:19

I STRONGLY disagree with the statement that 'any human being is capable of this'

Most people are NOT child abusers!

Feminine · 29/08/2013 13:21

I thought hey was thinking that any human could cover it up?

nice man image...

HeySoulSister · 29/08/2013 13:22

No but they are capable of being!

HeySoulSister · 29/08/2013 13:25

Anyone, male and female.... Our own families ( most likely), people in the public eye.... Anyone.... Your own DH's, the local shopkeepers.... It could be anyone. There is no particular 'look' or type. Anyone is capable of this.

I'm an ex officer tho, so guess I've seen more than I needed to

MrsApplepants · 29/08/2013 13:28

I'm just so disappointed with him. Is no one genuine anymore?

Original poster

londonrach · 29/08/2013 13:31

Anyone cant do this surely. ( Sitting here shocked and thinking might need chocolate). Just spoken to husband why im so upset about someone ive never meet and he says its because he is part of a carefree childhood and the memories are slightly darker with his news. Hes also upset and shocked. It just makes you think who else... I am being unreasonable for being upset by this arent i.

OP posts:

Feminine · 29/08/2013 13:33

No, YANBU.

It is still a shock, if you had previously seen him in a different light.

I don't think anyone would do it. I think all different types do.

Not just those that look creepy.

EldritchCleavage · 29/08/2013 13:35

He's only been charged, not found guilty. People are bound to have opinions, but until a trial has taken place I think people should be a lot more restrained about expressing them.

fluffyraggies · 29/08/2013 13:39

Making indecent images of a child? :( :( :( My mind is boggling.

I never thought he'd be charged. JS and the others so far ... horrified but not 'shocked'. If that makes any sense? But RH??

It sounds soooo pathetic to say it - but i'm going to say it anyway - i loved Animal Hospital :(

Babyroobs · 29/08/2013 13:45

I am thoroughly shocked. He came to the local primary school in our village in the 1980's and everyone thought he was wonderful.

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 29/08/2013 13:54

Babyroobs, he was meant to be a guest speaker at our final assembly one year, but he couldn't come.

Instead we had another guest speaker, but he sent a recorded little speech, saying how sorry he was he couldn't come and how he hoped the people going off to new schools would be successful etc. I always thought how nice and thoughtful that was

I don't think YABU to feel upset, OP, it's such a big switch in thinking if it is true.

wannaBe · 29/08/2013 14:14

innocent until proven guilty...

My ILs used to live in the same town as him and he had a reputation for being a miserable bastard, but let's not forget that he hasn't actually been found guilty yet.

I think the 70/80's were a whole different era. A time when young girls fawned over these celebrities and the celebrities were cocky and took advantage on a level they at that time thought was perfectly ok, because they saw it as sixteen year olds throwing themselves at them (it wasn't seen the same back then). I'm not referring to the likes of JS who was blatantly a predator (who the fuck would have wanted to throw themselves at him anyway he was repulsive!) but these on-screen types who were over flattered by attention and failed to see the inappropriateness of acting on it. iyswim.

They were still in the wrong, no question, but I'm not sure it's as black and white as that all these celebs were out and out predators looking for a victim, more that they were cocky idiots who didn't see sleeping with a sixteen year old as wrong in the way that it's seen today. But it was of course wrong and now they are being brought to account.

Child images are of course a whole other league....

MNHQ

RebeccaMumsnet · 29/08/2013 14:22

Hello

Please be very careful not to say anything that could prejudice a fair trial.

Notalone · 29/08/2013 14:33

I remember him making an educational video which we were shown at school about child abuse where he sang the "body song" about keeping our bodies to ourselves. If he is proven guilty this is all the more shocking as he was involved in child abuse campaigning when all along he was allegedly an abuser himself. Link here talks in more depth

www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,610727,00.html

HellonHeels · 29/08/2013 14:41

fluffyraggies "making" an image can include downloading existing images, not just making new images. Both are crimes.

ShellyBoobs · 29/08/2013 15:36

How can you be unreasonable "to hear that they have charged rolf harris"?

KissMeHardy · 29/08/2013 17:42

wannaBe - you are SO right about it being a different era and what went with it. But you will NEVER convince most of the MNs of that. They didn't live then, so it didn't happen/was the same as today. It wasn't.

I grew up with RH on my TV. I am not shocked.........just sad.

CaptainCapybara · 29/08/2013 18:06

I am shocked to hear it, I was in rolf's cartoon club as a child. He has never given off dodgy vibes the way Saville did.

valiumredhead · 29/08/2013 22:25

I disagree, even as a child I thought he was very strange. A friends who has spent time with him told me years ago 'he is definitely not someone you'd leave your kids with.'

Taffeta · 29/08/2013 22:29

I have met him. He helped me out with something about 20 years ago. He is a lovely man.

Pagwatch · 29/08/2013 22:37

Do you know, I am getting kind of irritated by the 'but he looked so nice' stuff

Do people still not get, really not get,that child abusers look exactly like everyone else. They have a vested interest in appearing charming and/or harmless.

I get the shock of a 'well loved celebrity' being involved.
But to talk about being surprised because he didn't see the type is just nonsense. They often don't seem the type.

its how they get away with it

Pagwatch · 29/08/2013 22:41

And it perpetuates the myth that you would spot, you should spot a paedophile because there would be some odd vibe about them.

Its part of the mind set which contributes to why victims don't get believed.

BlackeyedSusan · 29/08/2013 22:41

another 70's kid who finds it very unsettling. js, is not a suprise. rh is.

whitesugar · 29/08/2013 22:54

I suppose its easier to understand when you consider that one in four people who are abused are abused by people they know well, a close friend or family member. In reality its just a handful of celebs. Its just more shocking because they were part of the fabric of our childhood. What surprises me is that I am shocked because I somehow assumed that they were decent people because they were on the telly in our living rooms. We have absolutely no idea what they are like in RL. I still keep thinking Ken Barlow wouldn't do that but its not Ken Barlow ... Television creates a bizzare state of reality v unreality.

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