Post by Mr. Jon Donnis on Mar 19, 2013 12:59:04 GMT
CORRIE legend Bill Roache has claimed sex abuse victims are paying the price for behaviour in “past lives”.
The actor, 80, condemned paedophilia — but also defended popstars who sleep with “sexually active” groupies who “don’t know what age they may be”.
Roache argued: “They’re certainly not grooming them, but they can be caught in this trap.”
Today the soap star's comments were slammed as "completely disgusting" and when asked about them he initially said he would not discuss it.
However, as pressure mounted he later issued a grovelling apology saying he was "very sorry for any offence caused."
The Coronation Street veteran sparked outrage by saying it was easy for famous men to be "trapped" by adoring young groupies who throw themselves at them.
And he said of the victims: "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."
But interviewer Garth Bray hit back: "To some people that sounds perhaps like you're saying victims bring things on themselves – is that what you're saying?"
Roache — who has played Ken Barlow for 53 years — replied: "Not quite, but then yes I am, because everything that happens to us has been a result of what we have been in previous lives."
The National Association for People Abused in Childhood’s Dr Jon Bird called the comments “completely disgusting”.
He added: “He has belittled the pain of others. He should be ashamed.”
Roache made the controversial comments in an explosive interview with New Zealand's One News channel.
He added: "If somebody has done something wrong then the law will take its course, but even so all of us, whatever whether they're proven guilty or not - we shouldn't go around condemning, unforgiving.
"We should always be totally forgiving about everything." Discussing paedophilia, Roache said it was a complex issue that had been "stirred up" by the Jimmy Savile case.
Roache went on: "Paedophilia is absolutely horrendous. Paedophiles should be sought out, rooted out and dealt with.
"But there's a fringe of people who, particularly pop singers, they have these groupies.
"These girls, who come, they're sexually active, sexually mature, they don't ask for their birth certificate, they don't know what age they may be.”
Today Roache apologised for the comments and said: "I would like to say that I am very sorry for any offence that has been caused as a result of my comments.
"I would never say that victims of sexual offences are in any way responsible for the abuse they have suffered and I offer my deepest apologies if anything I have said has been misunderstood in this way.
"I had no intention of causing any kind of distress as a result of my interview and I offer my utmost sympathies to anyone affected by sexual offences and paedophilia."
Read more: www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4848975/bill-roache-sex-abuse-payback.html#ixzz2NzRqfw6N
The actor, 80, condemned paedophilia — but also defended popstars who sleep with “sexually active” groupies who “don’t know what age they may be”.
Roache argued: “They’re certainly not grooming them, but they can be caught in this trap.”
Today the soap star's comments were slammed as "completely disgusting" and when asked about them he initially said he would not discuss it.
However, as pressure mounted he later issued a grovelling apology saying he was "very sorry for any offence caused."
The Coronation Street veteran sparked outrage by saying it was easy for famous men to be "trapped" by adoring young groupies who throw themselves at them.
And he said of the victims: "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."
But interviewer Garth Bray hit back: "To some people that sounds perhaps like you're saying victims bring things on themselves – is that what you're saying?"
Roache — who has played Ken Barlow for 53 years — replied: "Not quite, but then yes I am, because everything that happens to us has been a result of what we have been in previous lives."
The National Association for People Abused in Childhood’s Dr Jon Bird called the comments “completely disgusting”.
He added: “He has belittled the pain of others. He should be ashamed.”
Roache made the controversial comments in an explosive interview with New Zealand's One News channel.
He added: "If somebody has done something wrong then the law will take its course, but even so all of us, whatever whether they're proven guilty or not - we shouldn't go around condemning, unforgiving.
"We should always be totally forgiving about everything." Discussing paedophilia, Roache said it was a complex issue that had been "stirred up" by the Jimmy Savile case.
Roache went on: "Paedophilia is absolutely horrendous. Paedophiles should be sought out, rooted out and dealt with.
"But there's a fringe of people who, particularly pop singers, they have these groupies.
"These girls, who come, they're sexually active, sexually mature, they don't ask for their birth certificate, they don't know what age they may be.”
Today Roache apologised for the comments and said: "I would like to say that I am very sorry for any offence that has been caused as a result of my comments.
"I would never say that victims of sexual offences are in any way responsible for the abuse they have suffered and I offer my deepest apologies if anything I have said has been misunderstood in this way.
"I had no intention of causing any kind of distress as a result of my interview and I offer my utmost sympathies to anyone affected by sexual offences and paedophilia."
Read more: www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4848975/bill-roache-sex-abuse-payback.html#ixzz2NzRqfw6N
