‘Very few of us escape the impact of evil people… for me it was Rolf Harris’: BBC Radio host who claims she was assaulted by paedophile three times when she was 16 breaks her silence after disgraced star’s death
- Karen Gardner accused Rolf Harris of assaulting her three times in 35 minutes
- BBC Radio host was his 16-year-old bag carrier for the show Star Games in 1977
- LIVE: Disgraced paedophile TV host dies aged 93 after battling neck cancer
One of Rolf Harris’s victims broke her silence after the paedophile’s death was announced today at the age of 93.
Karen Gardner, a BBC Radio host, accused him of assaulting her three times in the space of 35-minutes when she was his 16-year-old bag carrier for the show Star Games in 1977.
She tweeted: ‘Very few of us escape the impact of evil people. What we have to do is expose them, share and stand together to dilute the pain.
‘For me it was Rolf Harris but he inflicted much worse on other girls.’
Ms Gardner relived her experiences for the ITV documentary Rolf Harris: Hiding in Plain Sight.
She revealed her torment in the show, which aired last week, after bravely waiving her right to anonymity.
Karen Gardner (pictured as a teenager) accused Harris of assaulting her three times in the space of 35-minutes when she was his 16-year-old bag carrier for the show Star Games in 1977
Ms Gardner broke her silence after the the paedophile’s death was announced today at the age of 93
Ms Gardner (pictured this month) relived her experiences for the ITV documentary Rolf Harris: Hiding in Plain Sight
She told the programme: ‘In the space of I guess about 35 minutes, he assaulted me three times in plain sight. And it was horrible because you’re surrounded by people, and he had a method of operating.
READ MORE: Rolf Harris’s death certificate reveals he died TWO WEEKS ago of neck cancer and ‘frailty of old age’ at his home – as it emerges he has already been cremated
‘I won’t talk about the actual details, but he was paying me attention, he was saying how great I had been, and he, he hugged me, and that that’s when, when it happened. And it was humiliating and degrading and awful and your, your blood turns to concrete.’
She continued: ‘You can’t believe this is happening. And I have no doubt what was happening. My period was due, and my breasts were very tender, and I had no doubt what he’d done was deliberate. And he did it, he did that twice in the space of, I don’t know, 20 odd, 25 minutes.
‘And then it was mid-afternoon and they had organised a couple of taxis and one of the cars came to get him. And I had to get in the back seat of the car.’
Ms Gardner said Rolf got beside her and assaulted her again, adding: ‘Maybe because there wasn’t anyone there, I did tell him to f**k off. And he said something, which makes, still makes me feel sick now. He said to me, ‘You’re irresistible.’ I was 16. He was 48. He was 10 years older than my dad.’
Harris was acquitted of assaulting Ms Gardner after the jury could not reach a verdict at two trials.
Ms Gardner broke her silence just hours after MailOnline had revealed that the Australian sex offender died of neck cancer and old age.
It later emerged that he died two weeks ago at his home and has already been ‘laid to rest’ following a secret cremation.
Harris (pictured in 2017) died two weeks ago at his home and has already been ‘laid to rest’ following a secret cremation, it emerged today
The disgraced TV star had been ‘very sick’ since leaving prison six years ago, living as a near-recluse with his wife in their £5million riverside mansion in Bray, Berkshire.
An undertaker’s private ambulance was photographed outside his riverside home on May 11. Harris died there on May 10 – 13 days ago – but his death was only registered with Windsor and Maidenhead Council today. The document also revealed he has been cremated.
This afternoon, in a statement released by his solicitor, his family said: ‘Rolf Harris recently died peacefully surrounded by family and friends and has now been laid to rest. They ask that you respect their privacy. No further comment will be made’.
The cause of death has been revealed as ‘metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of neck’ – the medical term for neck cancer – and ‘frailty of old age’.
Paedophile Harris had been struggling to talk after cancerous tumours grew in his neck after he was freed from jail in 2017 for a string of sex offences including children as young as eight. He was fed through a tube before his death and was seen in a wheelchair when out of the house.
He is survived by his grandson Marlon, 25, daughter Bindi, 59, and wife Alwen, 91, a jeweller and sculptor. She is in a wheelchair because of Alzheimer’s disease but the couple, who married in 1958, lived together with the help of around the clock care.
The Australian-born TV presenter was a family favourite for decades before being convicted of a string of indecent assaults in June 2014.
Disgraced paedophile Rolf Harris has died at the age of 93, MailOnline can reveal. He was last pictured in April 2022 (right)
Rolf Harris’ death certificate revealed his cause of death. He died at home on May 10 – 13 days ago
Harris died at this riverside mansion (pictured)
A private ambulance with its rear doors open at the home of Rolf Harris and his wife Alwen around ten days ago
These included one on an eight-year-old autograph hunter, two on girls in their early teens and a catalogue of abuse against his daughter’s friend over 16 years.
He was jailed for five years and nine months after being convicted of 12 assaults which took place between 1968 and 1986.
It understood Rolf Harris’ health took a turn for the worse after the sudden death of his beloved poodle earlier in 2022.
Harris married his sculptor wife Alwen in March 1958 after meeting at art school. They have one daughter Bindi.
Best known for hits Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport and Jake The Peg, as well as a string of children’s TV hits, Harris also famously painted the 80th birthday portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
He was the face of British Paints for more than three decades before he was dumped by the brand when he was arrested in 2013.
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