Rolf Harris has been charged

[TensionWheelsCoolHeels]

Can't link as on phone but just got a news flash saying he's been charged with 9 counts of indecent assault, and 4 to do with indecent images.

[georgedawes]

Suggesting it was because he was senile, obscene drawings, having a midlife crisis and comparing it to finding out your best friend has been accused of similar isn't a great reaction, whichever way you want to look at it.

[Pan]

no gd all of that aren't optimal reactions, of course. But fairly understandable in the circs of how such things are reacted to, and people learn from discourse. It's the jabby fingers style of discourse over matters that we are continuously learning about that's a bit .

[Onesleeptillwembley]

georgedaws You shutting yourself off is not immature. It's a perfectly understandable protective mechanism. You do whatever's right for you.

[georgedawes]

I don't think they're understandable at all. I can't think of any situation where my first thought about hearing someone had been charged with a sexual offence against a child was that they were senile, or having a mid-life crisis.

Thanks onesleep.

[georgedawes]

But I suppose they're common views, if not one I understand.

[Pan]

I think they are understandable, and widely reflected. I was referring to cases generally. And maybe your first thought wasn't those things, so good for you. So where does that take us?
fwiw I think RH being charged will be a further watershed in the public consciousness of understanding about who exactly are potential offenders. But it's a bit of a journey.

[AnyFucker]

they are the kneejerk reactions, george

the ones that causes less visceral discomfort for the reader

the ones where you don't have to think you can just hide behind platitudes and get on with your life where nothing bad like this could ever happen to your loved ones

it is understandable actaully, victim-blaming is akin to dummy sucking IMO, it is a comfort response

it doesn't make it right though, and once I stopped doing it life got harder and thank goodness for that

[georgedawes]

"just world" shit isn't it

good for me indeed

[Pan]

iirc no-one on this thread has referred to victim-blaming - that issue is quite separate to the sense of being expressed over RH being charged.

[AnyFucker]

if you excuse/ apologise for the offender, then what are you left with ?

[Pan]

I don;t think anyone has done those thingsAF - we've had some water-thin explanations - but again none of those have targeted the alleged victims.

[AnyFucker]

If you excuse the offender then it follows there is no victim

throw all of the cases out of court then

[Pan]

No AF - that's just fairly bollocks wrong. Have you not read anything I've posted over the years?
Excuse and explain have v different weights and implications.

These processes (such as RH) are highly educative, and yay for that. The incidence of 'historic' allegations have mushromed over the last year. And RHs charging should accelerate that, one hopes.

[CaptainKirksNipples]

Someone near me was found guilty of making images, he cut and paste a little girls face he knew onto a downloaded picture of child abuse. I doubt he is in trouble for drawing dodgy cartoons!!

[Tortington]

dya know what, i can see the seedy fucks that constitute the TV personalities of my youth , but rolph being charged has been a shock

[AnyFucker]

yes, Pan, it feels like I have been reading you for years

I agree with you some of the time. On this, I do not.

out of interest, do you accept "mid life crisis" as either an excuse or an explanation for allegedly abusing a child, whatever your own personal definitions of those may be?

[Pan]

yeah me too AF. Often you talk sense, and then sometimes....

Briefly? Excuse is to shift blame, explain is to accept blame and 'reason' it out. No-one here has 'excused' RH, afaik.

[AnyFucker]

you didn't answer my question, pan

[Pan]

other things on AF

[AnyFucker]

it was a straightforward question and you dodged it

I shall even use your vernacular if you like

do you think "midlife crisis" or a "touch of dementia" is a "reason" for allegedly abusing a child ?

I can't word it any other way without becoming completely unintelligible

[Pan]

I didn't dodge it AF, don't be silly. And it's 'diction', not a choice of vernacular.
RH may well offer them as part of an explanation, as some posters have here. But as I have said, but you seem to be not wishing to read, no-one is victim-blaming. You've made that one up yourself.

[AnyFucker]

You didn't quite get me, Pan

I used the word "vernacular" to highlight the fact you are speaking a different language to me. The Oxford dictionary is your friend here.

MLC or a touch of dementia is a proposed "explanation" for alleged child abuse. I get it now.

And it's still wrong.

[Pan]

oh whatever AF - it's the same language, pretty straight forward stuff. It just seems you don't like your view to be analysed over this stuff.
night.

[AnyFucker]

Good night Pan

[Pan]

and to you.