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Australian entertainer Rolf Harris, 84, is accused of allegedly sexually assaulting British-Jewish TV Personality Vanessa Feltz.
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Ms. Feltz, 52, spoke up about the alleged abuse after the Harris had been convicted of twelve charges of indecent assault, and sentenced to a maximum of five years and nine months in prison.
Feltz told the Sunday Express that, back in 1996, Harris “inched up her leg” and put his hand inside the elastic of her knickers in front of millions of viewers while she was interviewing him live on The Big Breakfast.
She said she noticed “a rustling” at the hem of her dress and felt Harris’s hand creeping up her leg.
She explained that, being on live TV, “I could not look down, but I sensed that his hand was at the bottom of my dress and he was slowly gathering the fabric up and moving his hand higher and higher up my leg.
“He was carrying on talking as though nothing was going on, smiling and joking, as he moved his hand further up.
“Suddenly his hand had reached my knee and he was still going up and travelling at speed. I was so shocked. This was Rolf Harris. I could clearly see his wife. How could this possibly be happening? But of course, as he knew perfectly well, I could not say anything.”
Feltz was married at the time, and very much wanted to put her hand out to stop Harris, but she was “terrified of doing something that would upset the millions of children watching the show.”
What stays outside the frame won’t hurt them.
She added: “Then I felt his hand on my thigh. He was inching higher. I was not wearing tights or stockings and I sensed nothing was going to stop him.
“After a few seconds he had managed to get his hand inside the elastic of my knickers and I was absolutely staggered.”
Feltz said she couldn’t “stop and tell the viewers Rolf Harris is assaulting me, ” so she went to commercial instead and ran off the set.
She told police about the alleged assault, but the judge at Harris’s criminal trial ruled the evidence could not be admitted. As it is, Harris is likely to die in prison for the crimes of which he was convicted.
