(BBC sex abuse scandal) Aging commentator Hall charged with rape and indecent assault
(01-23 10:05)
Aging British commentator Stuart Hall, who presented It’s a Knockout in the 1970s for the state-funded broadcaster BBC, was yesterday charged with rape and 14 counts of indecent assault. The 83-year-old, who had been honored by the Queen with an OBE, has been bailed and will appear in court on February 7.
Some of the indecent assault offenses are alleged to have been committed against 10 girls aged between 9 and 16 years.
Police in Lancashire said the the indecent assault offenses are alleged to have been committed between 1967 and 1986. Hall is also alleged to have raped a 22-year-old woman in 1976.
The Guardian said Hall received an Order of the British Empire in the last New Year honors list.
The BBC has been reeling from a sex abuse scandal and has lost credibility in London and across world capitals. It also admitted that it is investigating serving journalists for sexual offences. British politicians have condemned the broadcaster for its “cretinous’’ journalism and for humiliating those whom it criticizes and targets.
After recent scandals, some its senior journalists have been moved elsewhere or sacked. The Beeb also lost its director general.
"Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service an 83-year-old man has this evening been charged with one offence of rape and 14 offences of indecent assault,'' a Lancashire Police statement said.
The presenter pleaded not guilty to three other charges of indecent assault when he appeared in court earlier this month, and will now answer those charges in crown court, AFP reported.
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