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Dave Lee Travis

Top prosecutor defends sex charges against acquitted UK celebrities

Top prosecutor defends decision to charge ageing stars after acquittals

The director of Britain's prosecution service has defended the decision to bring sexual assault cases against ageing celebrities, despite two high-profile acquittals that have led to accusations of a witch-hunt.

A string of celebrities have been accused of rape and sexual assault as part of an investigation launched in the wake of the 2011 death of Jimmy Savile, one of Britain's biggest television stars in the 1970s and 1980s.

The public would be horrified if we did not prosecute because a complaint came many years after the event

It emerged that he had sexually assaulted some 300 victims, mainly children, over six decades of abuse.

The BBC and the police were widely criticised for failing to act earlier, prompting commentators to say that the police were trying to atone for past mistakes.

Jimmy Savile
Writing in the newspaper, Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders vowed to keep bringing cases of historic sexual assault to court wherever possible.

"The public would be horrified if we did not prosecute because a complaint came many years after the event," she said.

When Operation Yewtree was launched by London police, hundreds of people came forward with allegations of sexual abuse by a number of British celebrities.

Now that two of them, radio DJ Dave Lee Travis and soap star William Roache, have been cleared of the charges against them, the Crown Prosecution Service is eager to show that does not mean the cases should never have reached court.

"So long as our criminal justice system is working effectively, we will continue to see acquittals in these types of cases. But we are also seeing convictions," Saunders said.

Some celebrities have voiced concern the investigation has become a witch-hunt with innocent people linked to paedophile Savile but never charged.

Travis, 68, was this month cleared of a string of sexual offences against women over three decades, while actor Roache, 81 was cleared of rape and indecent assault charges a week earlier, although his arrest was not directly linked to the Savile investigation.

Saunders dismissed claims that the police and prosecutors were attempting to rectify past mistakes, saying they had only brought cases to court where there was sufficient evidence for a jury trial.

She added: "To those who say recent high-profile acquittals show that police and prosecutors are overcompensating for past failings, I say quite simply that we are not."

A UK charity for rape victims, Rape Crisis, described claims that Operation Yewtree had become a witch-hunt as "baseless" and "nonsensical".

"I wonder whether we're now experiencing a bit of a backlash, in terms of empathy or sympathy fatigue," said Rape Crisis spokeswoman Katie Russell.

More celebrities are due to go on trial for sexual offences in connection with Operation Yewtree later this year, including celebrity publicist Max Clifford and UK-based Australian entertainer Rolf Harris, 83.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Celebrity sex cases 'no witch-hunt'
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