Editorial: Harris: Tale of ultimate betrayal

Rolf Harris

These days it often seems that nothing is as it seems.

Remember when match-fixing in cricket still shocked us or when Tiger Woods was a clean-living young golfer?

What next? Maybe a trusted figure from our youth would be exposed for his double life.

Well, that is exactly what happened last week. Australian children's entertainer Rolf Harris was convicted for abuse. The ultimate betrayal?

As someone who grew up watching Harris bring the most marvellous drawings to life on television, it was quite a shock when he was first arrested for indecently assaulting four girls for almost two decades.

That shock had dulled into contempt by the time the shuffling 84-year-old was convicted this week of all 12 charges against him for abusing the girls, including a 7-year-old.

Paedophiles and sexual abusers appear in court all the time, but it is quite a different scenario when someone paints themselves as a do-gooder and is feted for all the marvellous things they have done.

When the truth comes out, it is not just a case of abuse, but betrayal as well. It is no surprise that the world is so cynical.

Harris painted the Queen for goodness sake. Her ancestors would have beheaded him for such crimes.

But, this story is not just a tale from abroad that fills us with horror, it also has New Zealand connections, as his groping hands reached into this country.

All the women, be they the ones he has been charged for hurting, or the silent ones living amongst us, deserve to be applauded and supported.

They are the heroes in this tawdry tale.

Andrew Austin is editor of Hawke's Bay Today