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Owzabout That Then? The Jimmy Savile Revelations & Aftermath

Chegwin and Edmonds seem to be unlikely heroes at this point in time.
 
Something profoundly depressing about this news:

Rolf Harris charged with indecent assault on girls

Rolf Harris has been charged with nine counts of indecent assault and four of making indecent images of children, police have said.

Mr Harris was first arrested in March by officers investigating historical allegations of child sexual abuse.

Six offences relate to the indecent assault of a girl aged 15-16 between 1980 and 1981 and three relate to a girl aged 14 in 1984.

The indecent images of children were alleged to have been made last year.

Mr Harris will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 23 September.

Alison Saunders, chief Crown prosecutor for London, said: "Having completed our review, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest for Mr Harris to be charged with nine counts of indecent assault and four of making indecent images of a child.

"The alleged indecent assaults date from 1980 to 1986 and relate to two complainants aged 14 and 15 at the time of the alleged offending."

Mr Harris was arrested as part of Operation Yewtree, which was set up in the wake of allegations against the former BBC Radio 1 DJ and TV presenter Jimmy Savile.

Operation Yewtree has three strands - one is looking specifically at the actions of Savile, while the second strand concerns allegations against "Savile and others".

Mr Harris was arrested as part of the third strand, which relates to alleged complaints against other people unconnected to the Savile investigation - who the police term "others".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23880768
 
And now it got worse.

If they got real evidence and not just slander he obviously deserves to what he get.
Any way it's sad.
 
I've past getting depressed to be honest.

Like I said before, it looks like Edmonds, Chegwin and Schofield might be the only safe childhood memories I've got left.
 
:(

Where will it all end? I just keep thinking, what if thats all going on with kids tv hosts now. *Shudder*
 
CarlosTheDJ said:
I've past getting depressed to be honest.

Like I said before, it looks like Edmonds, Chegwin and Schofield might be the only safe childhood memories I've got left.
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Selective memory there.

A contestant on one of his shows died live on TV when a bungee stunt went wrong.
Not surprising really when he was also introducing items like this -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeQs2fpU1eI



A masterclass in sympathy and concern for others.
 
Oh yes, that was awful :(

I'm no fan of Edmonds and think most of what he's done is utter tripe - but I still hope he's not part of this "ring".
 
At least we can console ourselves that Jim Davidson was innocent. Erm.
 
When I heard the news about Rolf today, I had to shed a tear. I'd clung on the belief that he was completely innocent.

It might still yet be hogwash, but the fact that they've charged him means that they have some evidence against him...I guess?
 
When I heard the news about Rolf today, I had to shed a tear. I'd clung on the belief that he was completely innocent.

It might still yet be hogwash, but the fact that they've charged him means that they have some evidence against him...I guess?
 
Oh nooo... Not Rolf Harris!

We're getting to the point where those of us of a certain age are going to have our whole life view shattered - and psychologically that's probably not a good thing.
 
I feel the opposite. When we hear about people being arrested, charged, tried and eventually found guilty for 'historical' sex crimes (often committed against children and teenagers) it's a good thing. They thought they'd got away with it, but they haven't. It makes me feel that today's kids might be safer.

Look at Stuart Hall - he thought he was home and dry, because nobody could produce any scientific evidence from so long ago, and the allegations only came to light decades after the offence. He sneered at the victims and called them liars and fantasists. He was found guilty because they were listened to, and each of them described his assaults happening in the same way.

Of course, having had quite a bit of unwanted sexual attention from older men as young woman, I may have a different slant on things from a male of the same age. ;)
 
escargot1 said:
Look at Stuart Hall - he thought he was home and dry, because nobody could produce any scientific evidence from so long ago, and the allegations only came to light decades after the offence.
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And then the judge played his joker and doubled his sentence to 30 months.

Good job I developed a healthy cynicism early on in life and grew up pretty ambivalent to the charms of celebrity on the small screen. However...I hope nothing comes out about Troy Tempest.
 
escargot1 said:
I feel the opposite. When we hear about people being arrested, charged, tried and eventually found guilty for 'historical' sex crimes (often committed against children and teenagers) it's a good thing. They thought they'd got away with it, but they haven't. It makes me feel that today's kids might be safer.

Look at Stuart Hall - he thought he was home and dry, because nobody could produce any scientific evidence from so long ago, and the allegations only came to light decades after the offence. He sneered at the victims and called them liars and fantasists. He was found guilty because they were listened to, and each of them described his assaults happening in the same way.

Of course, having had quite a bit of unwanted sexual attention from older men as young woman, I may have a different slant on things from a male of the same age. ;)
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in other words you will take hart from some of this ...
 
Oh, I didn't mean they shouldn't be brought to justice - but a nation that feels it can't trust anyone is not going to be a good thing either.

We already see so many things in our lives discredited I think it has the potential to make us vulnerable to extremism of various sorts.
 
People shouldn't trust just anybody with their children though. That's how this sort of unpleasantness comes about.

While certain old cynics iike Jimv and me don't believe that being famous necessarily makes someone a good, or even accountable person, too many in the past did. That's the sort of innocence we can do without.

There are people who'll take advantage of trust, and in years past victims weren't listened to. These days victims are more likely to speak up. That's a good thing. OK, it's unpleasant to know about, but as a society we need to face what's wrong and put it right.

Oh, and HenryFort… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :shock:
 
But how do you know who not to trust and who to trust? Society can't work if we don't trust anyone or anything.
 
Cochise said:
But how do you know who not to trust and who to trust? Society can't work if we don't trust anyone or anything.
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You sound as if you're wishing we could go back to the old days when nobody talked about these nasty things! But we do need to talk. Parents and organisations can practice safeguarding. Children can be taught to recognise grooming. We already have the highly bureaucratic but generally effective CRB checks. There's lots that can be done, and admitting that there's a problem is the first step.

Speaking personally, as a parent I didn't let random adults get close to my children and was strict about where they went and who with. I only reluctantly let them go to clubs outside school and always made my presence felt with the people who ran them. I'm certain that none was sexually victimised.

No way would I have, say, left them alone with someone famous. Parents who did that in the past look impossibly naive now. :(
 
Speaking personally, as a parent I didn't let random adults get close to my children and was strict about where they went and who with. I only reluctantly let them go to clubs outside school
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Being careful about "random adults" getting close to your children is fair enough, but reluctant to let them go to clubs outside school? Really? With respect, this doesn't sound a terribly healthy attitude to have.

Kids do need to interact with the outside world and yes, that does include adults outside of the nuclear family unit. Sure it's not without risks but life isn't. By all means teach children and teenagers to be aware of "grooming" and the like but don't make them paranoid about day to day contact with other people. As Cochise says we can't function as a society if no one trusts anyone or anything.
 
The fact remains children are far more likely to be abused by people they know well, like family or close friends of that family, than they are by strangers or celebrities. If that doesn't make us paranoid I don't know what will.
 
escargot1 said:
Cochise said:
But how do you know who not to trust and who to trust? Society can't work if we don't trust anyone or anything.
Click to expand...

You sound as if you're wishing we could go back to the old days when nobody talked about these nasty things! But we do need to talk. Parents and organisations can practice safeguarding. Children can be taught to recognise grooming. We already have the highly bureaucratic but generally effective CRB checks. There's lots that can be done, and admitting that there's a problem is the first step.
(
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Trouble is, none of that tells you who you can actually trust. People can pass CRB checks simply because they've never been caught. You can also be molested by other children or family members - in fact, you are more likely to be.

Where does it stop? And I was including the wider issues of trust lost in other areas such as government and media reporting as well, as well, not just regarding child abuse.

At the end of the day, you just have to try and trust people and hope that all concerned are acting responsibly - that clearly wasn't the case at the BBC and I'm really disappointed that the wider issue of what these people's co-workers managers and 'sponsors' were doing seems not to have been taken up. Some at least seem to have expressed suspicions that were not followed up , so it is not as simple as a case of not talking about it.
 
Cochise said:
But how do you know who not to trust and who to trust? Society can't work if we don't trust anyone or anything.
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As you've brought up the issue of who we can trust on the Syria/chemical weapons thread too, I'm going to return you to points made about the surveillance society and the Panopticon. One of the psychological effects of which is to make everyone a suspect. While it was claimed the Panopticon would promote self-moderation in the individual, it also makes everyone more suspicious of each other's actions. And you're right, Society can't function without trust - but it can be more easily manipulated and told what to do as the traits of uniqueness, freedom and creativity of expression are suppressed.

I know I keep banging on about this but Surveillance does affect the psychology of the individual and society as a whole. That is one of the tasks. It's subtle and takes time but already we're seeing young adults and employers who think that if you don't have a facebook account, you've got something to hide and are therefore viewed with suspicion. People are less willing to demonstrate their dissent. Those who wield the power to monitor develop increasing suspicion of the subjects and a rising desire to correct the negative behaviour and attitudes of the watched.

What we are really seeing is the slow death of 'Society' and EVERYONE must be viewed with suspicion.
 
You are basically describing my concern. George Orwell's 1984 'society' was based on the fact that you had to toe the line because there was no-one you could trust, not even your partner. Is that what we really want?
 
Me too.

As a child I met many adults and was a member of several clubs.

I never came to any harm and I think it did me good.

Im also dubious about stuff from ages back...with no evidence, how can you prove anything?

As Forteans, we know how unreliable memory can be.

(I have had several people independently tell me my asexuality is due to suppressed childhood abuse. I find this scary.)
 
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