Coronation Street star Bill Roache was today arrested on suspicion of raping an underage girl twice in the Sixties.
The 81-year-old actor who plays Ken Barlow was held by detectives accused of two serious sexual assaults on a 15-year-old. Officers searched his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, as he was taken away for questioning.
The alleged offences are said to have taken place between April and July 1967, seven years after he began working on the TV soap. He was married to his first wife Anna at the time. An ITV spokeswoman said the broadcaster was not in a position to comment.
But it is understood Roache, who was due to appear in an episode on Friday, will have to be urgently edited out of the next few episodes and will stay off screen while investigations continue.
It comes weeks after Roache called for anonymity for those accused of child sex offences until they had been convicted of any charges.
In a separate interview days later, Roache, who was awarded an MBE in 2001, said the stars arrested in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal had been “pilloried”.
In a statement, Lancashire police said: “An 81 year old man from Wilmslow in Cheshire has this morning been arrested by Lancashire Constabulary on suspicion of rape.
“The man will be interviewed at a police station in Lancashire during the course of the day. The offences are alleged to have been committed in Haslingden between April and July 1967 and to involve a girl aged 15 years.
“We take all allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously and would encourage people with any information about sexual abuse, or anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, to come forward and report their concerns confident in the knowledge they will be investigated appropriately and with sensitivity.”
In a television interview with New Zealand’s TV One Breakfast show in March, Roache, who famously claims to have slept with more than 1,000 women, said: “If you’re accused you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty but if you’re a celebrity you get pilloried.”
Roache issued an apology after he appeared to suggest sex abuse victims were being punished for past sins. The actor said the public should not be judgmental but be “totally forgiving” of people who had committed child sex crimes.
He told the programme: “If you accept that you are pure love, and if you know that you are pure love and therefore live that pure love, these things won’t happen to you.”
Roache later issued a statement saying he was “sorry for any offence that has been caused as a result of my comments”.
Separately, he also said: “Paedophilia is absolutely horrendous. Paedophiles should be sought out, rooted out and dealt with.”
Roache’s arrest comes after one of Britain’s top prosecutors told the Standard a new wave of “very high-profile” arrests of celebrities is being planned by detectives investigating the Jimmy Savile scandal
and other historic sex abuse cases.
Last month, Nazir Afzal of the Crown Prosecution Service said the arrests were “scheduled for the next few weeks” as he warned that a “growing” number of child abuse cases were being uncovered by police.
Flora Lyimo akiwapa Watanzania wenzake wanaomtukana TOP UP''
Huyu alo baka miaka hiyo ya sitini na anatiwa mbaroni leo 'atakuwa huyo Godbless Lema wa miezi?jiulizeni maswali alafu endeleeni kunitukana ila jueni mwendo ni ule ule ALL I WANT IS JUSTICE!!
Coronation Street star Bill Roache was today arrested on suspicion of raping an underage girl twice in the Sixties.
The 81-year-old actor who plays Ken Barlow was held by detectives accused of two serious sexual assaults on a 15-year-old. Officers searched his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, as he was taken away for questioning.
The alleged offences are said to have taken place between April and July 1967, seven years after he began working on the TV soap. He was married to his first wife Anna at the time. An ITV spokeswoman said the broadcaster was not in a position to comment.
But it is understood Roache, who was due to appear in an episode on Friday, will have to be urgently edited out of the next few episodes and will stay off screen while investigations continue.
It comes weeks after Roache called for anonymity for those accused of child sex offences until they had been convicted of any charges.
In a separate interview days later, Roache, who was awarded an MBE in 2001, said the stars arrested in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal had been “pilloried”.
In a statement, Lancashire police said: “An 81 year old man from Wilmslow in Cheshire has this morning been arrested by Lancashire Constabulary on suspicion of rape.
“The man will be interviewed at a police station in Lancashire during the course of the day. The offences are alleged to have been committed in Haslingden between April and July 1967 and to involve a girl aged 15 years.
“We take all allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously and would encourage people with any information about sexual abuse, or anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, to come forward and report their concerns confident in the knowledge they will be investigated appropriately and with sensitivity.”
In a television interview with New Zealand’s TV One Breakfast show in March, Roache, who famously claims to have slept with more than 1,000 women, said: “If you’re accused you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty but if you’re a celebrity you get pilloried.”
Roache issued an apology after he appeared to suggest sex abuse victims were being punished for past sins. The actor said the public should not be judgmental but be “totally forgiving” of people who had committed child sex crimes.
He told the programme: “If you accept that you are pure love, and if you know that you are pure love and therefore live that pure love, these things won’t happen to you.”
Roache later issued a statement saying he was “sorry for any offence that has been caused as a result of my comments”.
Separately, he also said: “Paedophilia is absolutely horrendous. Paedophiles should be sought out, rooted out and dealt with.”
Roache’s arrest comes after one of Britain’s top prosecutors told the Standard a new wave of “very high-profile” arrests of celebrities is being planned by detectives investigating the Jimmy Savile scandal
and other historic sex abuse cases.
and other historic sex abuse cases.
Last month, Nazir Afzal of the Crown Prosecution Service said the arrests were “scheduled for the next few weeks” as he warned that a “growing” number of child abuse cases were being uncovered by police.
Flora Lyimo akiwapa Watanzania wenzake wanaomtukana TOP UP''
Huyu alo baka miaka hiyo ya sitini na anatiwa mbaroni leo 'atakuwa huyo Godbless Lema wa miezi?jiulizeni maswali alafu endeleeni kunitukana ila jueni mwendo ni ule ule ALL I WANT IS JUSTICE!!
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