Has "Sir" Jimmy had the last laugh?

[Sherlock]

The Knight of the Realm who hoodwinked the Government, the Crown, the Police, the Establishment, the System, and even the Media!

Praised by the good and great, photographed with Royals, Leaders and Celebrities.

And all the time this paragon of humanity, raising millions and millions of pounds for Charity was committing abominable vile acts with his underage adoring fans.

No wonder these gullible factions now want to cast the last stone!

 

[michaelB]

Yes, he had the last laugh. He died in time to beat the policeman; had he lived on, he would have had to face the music.

We are reminded how different things were forty years ago. Now, we take sex with under-age children seriously: in the 1970s the PIE (Paedophile Information Exchange) was an open and recognised pressure group. It was affiliated to the NCCL (now Liberty), represented and supported in its campaign to reduce or abolish the age of consent by prominent figures on the left of national politics - including some eminent enough to be ministers in the last Labour government and even now on the front bench. Those who demurred - like that figure of fun Mary Whitehouse - were not taken seriously and mocked as being out-of-touch Tories.

Things have changed - but in that atmosphere not only Savile, but many figures in the world of popular entertainment who attracted a mass following got away with abusing under-age girls (or boys, according to taste). Rock stars, comedians, DJs - plenty of them were at it and were not hiding it. Some of them boasted about their 'successes.' They seem to be immune from prosecution even where still alive, and not hiding their history.

Savile is different only in that public attention has, belatedly, been drawn to his crimes. It will be interesting to see whether those from that background still surviving will now have to answer for theirs.