Rolf Harris: Convicted paedophile ‘pictured in school grounds waving at children’
Headteacher says disgraced entertainer had no access to pupils ‘whatsoever’
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Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris, who was jailed for sex assaults against children, reportedly walked onto the grounds of a primary school and waved at pupils.
The convicted paedophile was pictured talking to a sculptor on the premises of Oldfield Primary School in Bray, Maidenhead.
Headteacher Richard Jarrett asked Harris, who was jailed for five years and nine months in 2014 but released on licence in May 2017, to leave, according to the Daily Mirror.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is now investigating whether the 88-year-old has broken the conditions of his release from prison.
A spokesperson for the MoJ said: “When sex offenders are released they are subject to strict licence conditions and are liable to be returned to custody for breaching them. We are looking into these reports and will take appropriate action.”
Thames Valley Police said an officer attended the scene but found that no offence had been committed.
Mr Jarrett, who has an MBE for services to education, said the school had two forms of security and Harris had no access to pupils “whatsoever”.
He said that Harris lives about three doors down from the school and appeared to be interested in speaking to the wood sculptor who was working close to the road.
“I went over and shook his hand and introduced myself. He explained what he was doing – that he was getting some wood from the sculptor. I said, ‘You need to go’,” said Mr Jarrett.
Police were called to the school at about 3.15pm on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: “A report was made that a man was on the site of the school. An officer attended the scene but no offence was committed. No arrests were made.”
In June 2014, at Southwark Crown Court, Harris, a family favourite for decades, was convicted of 12 indecent assaults, including 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. The offences took place between 1968 and 1986.
In May 2017 he was formally cleared of four unconnected historical sex offences, which he had denied.
Later the same year, one of the 12 indecent assault convictions was overturned by the Court of Appeal.
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