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Actor John Jarratt has slammed the legal system after he was falsely accused of rape

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Actor John Jarratt has slammed the legal system after he was falsely accused of rape – an accusation that he says ruined his life.

You may remember the story - the Wolf Creek star was accused of raping a former housemate 40 odd years ago. He denied it but for the better part of two years, he was labelled an accused rapist. He says his reputation took an irreparable hit as you’d imagine it would.

A jury took 15 minutes to acquit him of all charges and now he’s trying to rebuild his life. Sure, he can take civil action against those that he thinks sullied his public image but what will that do to repair the real damage.

He’s calling for the names of those accused of sexual assault to be suppressed until they are found guilty. Hard to argue with that isn’t it? It’s a bit like these corruption watchdogs. You can be accused of corruption, be found completely innocent but still the mud sticks.

I guess in a way the George Pell case is similar but might prove that Jarratt’s concept won’t work. Now he was eventually convicted of child sexual offences, but in reality, his reputation was trashed long before that and his name WAS originally suppressed. But in this day and age of social media, names still get out.

So, what is the answer? We can’t have innocent lives destroyed by false allegations, but we also must uphold the principle of an open and transparent legal system. Where do we draw the line.

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