A victim of disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris described him as 'evil' as news of his death was confirmed.
Karen Gardner, 61, was a bag carrier on TV show Star Games in 1977 when vile Harris assaulted her three times in the space of 35 minutes.
Then 48, Harris told a 16-year-old Karen “you’re irresistible”.
As news of the paedophile’s death broke yesterday, Karen pointed to a statement she had made one day earlier in the aftermath of a new ITVX documentary.
In that, she said: “Very few of us escape the impact of evil people.
“What we have to do is expose them, share and stand together to dilute the pain. For me it was #rolfharris but he inflicted much worse on other girls.”
After his death aged 93 was announced, it emerged that Harris had been cremated in a secret ceremony.
The family favourite-turned convicted child sex offender died in his £7million mansion on May 10.
His death certificate was registered yesterday, confirming he died of neck cancer and “frailty of old age”.
Shortly afterwards his family released a statement via Harris’s solicitor, saying: “Rolf Harris recently died peacefully surrounded by family and friends and has now been laid to rest.
“They ask that you respect their privacy. No further comment will be made.”
Harris died just days before a documentary aired on ITVX named Rolf Harris: Hiding in Plain Site, in which victims waived their right to anonymity to reveal how the pervert humiliated young girls and sexually assaulted women over decades of his life.
The fallen TV star was diagnosed with neck cancer last year, having been freed from prison in 2017. He was convicted in 2014 of 12 counts of indecent assault on four girls.
They included an eight-year-old autograph hunter, two on girls in their early teens and a catalogue of abuse against his daughter’s friend over 16 years.
His biographer William Merritt told the Mirror he had spoken to Harris at the start of the year and that he had appeared to be on the mend after surgery.
But neighbours said an influx of care workers were seen entering evil Harris’s house one week before he died.
On May 10 a funeral director’s van was spotted at his home, prompting days of speculation about his ill health.
His death was yesterday registered at Maidenhead Registry Office by former personal assistant Lisa Ratcliff, who spends her days at Harris’s pad.
In the UK, a death legally has to be registered after five days.
But family can bury or cremate a body with an interim certificate from a coroner before registering the death.
Harris was released on licence from HMP Stafford on May 19 2017, less than three years after his sentence began.
But the Mirror revealed in 2019 that Harris had walked into a school playground close to his home, having to be escorted off by the headteacher.
Cops had to remind the artist of his licence conditions.
Neighbours in Harris’s exclusive neighbourhood had confirmed his death to the Mirror shortly after he passed away but his family had refused to comment.
Despite his vile acts and convictions, many of his wealthy neighbours still stand by Harris.
A residents’ WhatsApp group for members of the estate’s Fisheries Residents’ Association, seen by the Mirror, wished Rolf “RIP” in messages.
One neighbour told the Mirror immediately after his death: “People around here were very conscious of what happened last time (when the Mirror revealed Rolf had walked into a local schoolyard) so they wanted it to remain quiet until all the members of his family and close friends learned about it.
“I know he has been ill for some time.
“He used to be out in his garden from time to time.”
She said he was the “life and soul” of residents’ street parties.
Rolf’s wife Alwen is believed to still be in the home.
Their daughter Bindi, 59, refused to comment when approached by media last week.
Before his death Harris was being sued by an alleged victim who claims the disgraced paedophile sexually assaulted her at an Australian adventure camp when she was 10- years-old and in foster care, in 1982.
She says after one of Harris’s performances, she and other children were introduced to him.
The woman said she had spilt wax on her dress and was trying to pick it off when Harris offered to help.
“That’s when he said he could help me get the wax off,” the woman said in her claim. “It started off helpful.”
But she claims the exchange quickly became sinister and sick Harris dragged her onto his lap and moved his hands up her leg and under her skirt, before he sexually assaulted her.
“I remember feeling petrified, terrified and panicked,” she said.
She said she tried to call and scream before she ran away from Harris.
