| Maggie Kirkpatrick, TV star of ‘Prisoner’ found guilty of child sex abuse |
SHE was the tough-talking jail warden in hit show Prisoner, and tomorrow The Freak will find out if she has a prison escape.
Maggie Kirkpatrick sat unmoved as a magistrate today found her guilty of sexually abusing an obsessed teenage fan in 1984.
Defence lawyer Justin Hannebery urged the magistrate to avoid jailing Kirkpatrick and the screen legend was last night assessed for a community corrections order. If granted, it would allow her to service her punishment in the community.
Prosecutor Sarah Thomas told the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court that given the serious nature of the crimes it was mandatory she be placed on the sex offenders’ register and a forensic swab be taken to be stored on file.
Kirkpatrick, who has been acting for 54 years and just finished a seven-year run of stage hit Wicked, is the latest fallen star whose career comes crashing down from historical sex cases, joining the likes of Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes and entertainer Rolf Harris.
Kirkpatrick was a respected small screen icon most famous for her villainous role as The Freak on cult series Prisoner, but has also starred in Home and Away, All Saints, Hey Dad! and Blue Heelers.
In handing down his finding, magistrate Peter Mealy said of the victim: “I’m satisfied she is a witness of truth.”
The court heard Kirkpatrick cooked rabbit strew and watched the Logie nominations before the taking the 14-year-old girl to her bedroom at her Prahran home.
Police gave graphic details inside court of the three sexual acts that happened.
“(The victim) recalls Kirkpatrick most disappointed because (the victim) was not experienced enough sexually,” police told the court hearing this week.
Kirkpatrick, 74, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency with a person under 16 years.
In her police interview she staunchly denied the charges and said they were “making me feel quite sick”.
The victim was an inpatient at a psychiatric ward and Kirkpatrick said she was being “nice” when she offered to take her back to her house on day leave.
The victim was an obsessed fan, who watched the cult show “religiously” and a TV producer organised the meeting.
The victim, now a married mother of three, came forward only two years ago because she thought everyone would think she was “crazy” to raise allegations against a famous person in the 1980s.
Mr Hannebery said his client had an unblemished criminal record and the offending related to a single incident over a short period of time and did not involve penetration.
Kirkpatrick will be sentenced tomorrow.
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