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Harris, 84, is the biggest name to go on trial since British
police launched a major investigation sparked by revelations
that the late BBC TV host Jimmy Savile was a prolific child sex
abuser, leading to the arrest of more than a dozen aging
celebrities.
Harris is known by millions in Britain and Australia for pop
chart hits such as "Two Little Boys" and "Tie Me Kangaroo Down,
Sport."
A keen artist, he painted Queen Elizabeth's portrait in 2005,
was honored by her for his services to entertainment and charity
and performed at her 2012 Diamond Jubilee concert.
The white-bearded, bespectacled entertainer sat silently in the
dock as he was accused of 12 counts of indecent assault against
four girls between 1968 and 1986, the youngest of whom was aged
just seven or eight at the time of the alleged offence.
He denies the charges.
On the opening day of what is expected to be a six-week trial at
Southwark crown Court, the 12-member jury of six men and six
women heard that Harris had a reputation at an Australian TV
channel for his inappropriate behavior.
He was known as the octopus because of the way he would put his
hands all over women, said prosecutor Sasha Wass. "He took
advantage of his fame and popularity."
Wass also said Harris wrote a letter of confession to the father
of one of his victims where he accepted that he had had a sexual
relationship with the girl but did not say it occurred whilst
she was under-age.
(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Stephen Addison)
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