< Harris the entertainer is no more. Harris the condemned paedophile has arisen. >

With just about anyone else on the planet, this would be true. But with old Rolf? I doubt it. He has had such a wholesome image over many decades that it is surely going to take more than a bit of police or newspaper innuendo to condemn him in the eyes of the vast majority.

Damage has been done. But his reputation hasn’t been skittled…..yet.

I'm as shocked as anyone else by these allegations about Rolf.

However, I very much doubt that anyone would have even mentioned this possibility, if there weren't at least some truth to the story.

If there are proved crimes, then he should be punished just the same as anyone else.
No one is above the law.

Yes, we're all shocked.
Rolf Harris has been part of our lives for
so long. He's an iconic figure in our
entertainment world. And to be confronted with such
an accusation beggars belief.

The most crippling reality that Rolf Harris will
now have to face is being looked upon with
considerable suspicion, his profession derided
and finding himself the butt of nasty jokes.
Probably he has little hope of ever recovering
his reputation.

The sooner this matter is brought out in its
entirety - the better.

Yes, yes, it is all very emotional, isn't it. Cuddly Rolf in the spotlight, and everyone making up their own mind whether he is evil personified or a mightily-wronged human being.

The facts are simple: the police are making enquiries, and as part of their duties they have arrested a suspect. If that suspect was Joe Soap from Carlingford, his name would have been instantly published. Instead, there was until recently a conspiracy of silence between the MSM mastheads, voluntarily suppressing the name on the basis that hey, he's such an icon. Until of course it became impossible to maintain the fiction of Mr X any longer. The Sun went public, and everyone else followed.

Back in the real world, everyone who has access to the internet has known of the events for many months...

http://order-order.com/2013/01/05/leveson-effect-can-you-see-what-it-is-yet/

I am not entirely sure from his article what particular point Mr Kampmark is trying to make. Surely, everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence, even harmless old men whose only known crime to date is a penchant for playing the clown (I suffer from mild coulrophobia) and singing saccharine ditties. That applies to Joe Soap of Carlingford, as much as it does to Rolf Harris Esq.

It would be of far greater concern to me if the habit of suppressing names in the press on the basis of someone's fame or fortune, became the prevailing standard.

...Parallels abound for the “ordinary man” in the Rolf Harris story. Call it the finger of scorn… Justice is uninvolved; no more than a tool for derision, guiding the wrecking-ball of innuendo!

if Rolf is innocent and few know, I suppose he would feel a little like many Catholic Priests who have been completely demonised mainly by the usual culprits.