A year after being charged with multiple counts of child sex assaults, legendary folk singer Roy Harper will soon learn his fate; the jury has begun announcing the verdicts. The 73-year-old singer-songwriter was acquitted by a British jury at Worcester Crown Court on two counts of indecent assault. The first account was from the 80’s with a 16-year-old, and the second account was with an 11-year-old girl. However, after 13 hours of deliberations, the jury failed to reach a verdict on two other counts of indecent assault, two counts of indecency with a child and one count of having sex with a child. The jury was later discharged by Judge Robert Juckes and he gave the prosecutors two more weeks to determine whether to pursue a retrial.
Harper, best known as the singer of Pink Floyd‘s “Have a Cigar“, was charged in November of 2013 with nine separate counts of sexually abusing a girl in the 1970’s, when she was 11 year of age, with a tenth charge added later in regards to the incident that happened in the 1980’s. Prosecutors charged the singer with four counts of indecent assault, four of indecency with a child and two counts of having sex with a minor. The status of the remaining three charges is still yet to be determined.
The 11-year-old alleged victim, who’s now in her 40’s, stated that most of the abuses took place in the singer’s own home. She blames these incidents as the cause for her abuse of alcohol and multiple suicide attempts.
The younger of the two alleged victims claimed that several of the abuses took place at Harper’s home in the 70s, which she referred to as an exciting place with famous people always coming and going. Her attorney said the woman, now in her 40s, has struggled with alcohol, and attempted suicide multiple times. She said, “I think about it daily. I drink far too much to get to sleep just to forget about it.” Harper has been performing since 1964, though rising to prominence almost a decade later he is known for his time spent with Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, while releasing a career 32 albums, 22 studio along with 10 live albums.