The Coronation Street actor Bill Roache groomed "starstruck" teenage girls on the set of the soap in the 1960s by sending them signed photographs and giving them rides in his Rolls Royce, a court has heard.
The 81-year-old, who has played Ken Barlow since the programme began in 1960, faces two charges of raping a 15-year-old girl in 1967 and five charges of indecently assaulting four other girls, who were as young as 14 at the time.
Roache even offered one of the girls, a teenage actor, a part in the soap if she "played ball", Preston crown court heard.
Opening the case for the prosecution, Anne Whyte QC, told the jury that Roache abused his fame in order to gratify his sexual desire for underage girls.
"You may well conclude by the end of this trial that William Roache's fame and popularity provided not only the opportunity for his offending but that it is one of the predominant reasons for his victims' decades of silence," she said.
Whyte urged the four men and eight women on the jury not to "favour or condemn" the actor because he was so well known, nor think ill of the five complainants for taking so long to report him to the police. All five alleged victims first went to the police last year, in the wake of sex scandals involving other celebrities, including the late Jimmy Savile.
"There is no textbook or code of conduct for victims of sexual crime, whether the crime is rape or something far less serious – whether the victim is now a pensioner but was a starstruck teenager or anything else," Whyte said. "A crime is a crime, whenever it takes place. It should not be dismissed as insignificant because it happened many years ago."
Roache denies all the charges against him, alleging that no sexual activity took place with the women concerned.
One of the victims now 62, contacted police in March 2013, after discussing with her son the sex allegations involving Savile and the late MP for Rochdale Cyril Smith. The court heard that her son "had been expressing disbelief about the time it had taken for victims of sexual offences to come forward". When his mother tried to explain, she eventually told him that Roache had raped her when she was 15, the court heard.
She alleges that Roache raped her on two occasions in 1967 in Haslingden, near Rossendale, in Lancashire, where Roache lived with his family at the time. She claims she was flattered when he invited her into his bungalow, where he had sex with her in a bedroom and on another occasion up against a wall.
The woman says she didn't report the rapes at the time because she feared her father would give her a "good hiding". She felt it was her fault, the court heard, and that no one would believe her over Roache, because he was so famous. "I don't think I would have been believed because who in their right mind would do that to a child when they've got the stars on, you've got celebrities they can mix in [sic] at the studios?" she told detectives.
A girl under 16 cannot consent to sexual activity, Whyte told the jury.
Two of Roache's alleged victims were sisters who used to hang around outside the Coronation Street set at Granada Studios between June 1968 and October 1970, "hoping to catch a glimpse of the cast", Whyte said.
The court heard that Roache noticed the girls and got them passes so they could go on-set and gave them a lift home in his Rolls Royce. According to one of the sisters, this made them feel very special, because their family couldn't afford a car, let alone such a prestigious model.
The older sister, now 59, claims she was "dead chuffed" when Roache invited her into his dressing room. But there he sexually assaulted her by pushing himself up against her, touching her breasts and putting his hand in her knickers. He stopped when she panicked and lied that she had her period. He said "perhaps next time" and offered to give her a tour of the studios if she visited again.
Her sister, now 57, alleges that Roache forced her to masturbate him when he took her and a friend for a drive in his Rolls Royce. She claims that after he ejaculated he wiped himself with a cloth he kept in the car, pulled over, gave her half a crown and told her to get the bus home.
The jury were told that this victim's friend was in the back of the car and would give evidence about what she saw that day.
The 57-year-old victim said she didn't make a complaint to the police until 2013 because she was scared. "I felt intimidated because people feel he is some kind of super actor and they think he's lovely and always 'William Roache, what a good man he is', you know, you don't stand a chance if you went forward," she told police.
Two other victims allege that Roache sexually assaulted them in the toilets at Granada Studios. One was 14 and visiting the studios to take part in a talent contest. After forcing her to masturbate him, he asked for her address and later sent her a letter and a signed photograph. This, said the prosecution, was evidence of grooming. "It was a deliberate act designed to impress a young schoolgirl and to secure her unquestioning loyalty as a fan for a sexual purpose," Whyte said.
That victim, now 63, told police she returned to visit Roache after the first sexual assault took place and the two went for a drive. She claims he again masturbated in the car and asked her when she would turn 16.
A further victim, now 65, said Roache assaulted her when she was a teenage actor. After groping her breasts in the Granada Studios toilets he told her he would pull some strings to get her a decent part on Coronation Street "if she played ball", the jury heard.
After being arrested in May 2013 Roache told detectives he was a "peaceful and gentle person", Whyte said. In a later interview he continued to deny the allegation but gave a statement admitting that he had "taken the opportunity to sleep with many women but that this had always been with their consent and that he had never sought out girls under the age of 16 because such young girls did not interest him sexually".
Wearing a navy blue three-piece suit and striped tie, Roache sat emotionless in the dock as the case against him was outlined. He was supported in the public gallery by his two sons, James and Linus, who are actors and have appeared in Coronation Street with their father.
Addressing the jury, Whyte said the allegations were complex. "These incidents demonstrate perhaps the complexity, or perhaps another view, the simplicity of what you will be tasked to deal with. No kicking, no screaming – no immediate verbal challenge by the young person to the trusted adult about what is happening – there's a continuing sense of being flattered by what at the time felt like attention but was in fact something far more sinister and opportune."
She added: "If at any stage in this trial, as we anticipate, it is suggested to you that these complainants are lying and on some sort of post-Jimmy Savile bandwagon, ask yourselves why. Why would they expose themselves to this, being questioned and discussed and cross-examined after so many years of privacy and why, if they are lying, is there compelling evidence that, although they did not report it to the police, they did tell other people about it, often much nearer the time?"
The jury was told that the trial would last three to four weeks and would likely include evidence from other Coronation Street actors, including Anne Kirkbride, who plays his screen wife, Deidre Barlow, and Chris Gascoyne, who played his TV son, Peter Barlow. Helen Worth, who plays Gail Platt, was also set to appear as a witness.
Roache last appeared in Coronation Street on 29 April 2013, with Deirde announcing that he had taken an impromptu holiday to care for his grandson Adam. Producers have said he will not return to the soap until the end of legal proceedings.
The case continues.
