Robert Hughes 'blank' over abuse claims

Actor Robert Hughes drew a blank expression when a family friend confronted him over allegedly fondling her daughter.

"He seemed to be blank," the mother of an alleged victim told the Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday.

"Certainly no shock, horror, nothing."

The Hey Dad! star has pleaded not guilty to 11 sexual and indecent assault charges.

The 65-year-old is accused of assaulting five girls in the 1980s and 1990s, including a child actor and a family friend's daughter.

An alleged victim told the court on Tuesday that Hughes crept into her room while she was sleeping and her parents socialised outside in 1984 or 1985.

The woman, who cannot be identified, said she woke to find Hughes' face 20cm from hers and his hand down her pants.

The girl was in her early teens.

The court heard the girl later asked her mother that Hughes and his wife not visit their home because Hughes was "horrible".

When the mother asked why, she told the court her daughter replied: "I have to keep hiding from him because he touches me ... between my legs".

The woman said she confronted Hughes at her Sydney home about the allegation he tried to fondle her daughter.

"He didn't deny it or admit it, he just heard it," she said.

"I said 'well if you went anywhere near any of my children again I would go to the police'."

But Hughes' lawyer Greg Walsh suggested the conversation never occurred.

Despite the revelations, the mother said she was "bullied" to go on a holiday north of Newcastle with the Hughes family, minus her daughter, because it had been paid for.

"I shouldn't have been there either ... none of us should have been there," she told the court.

The woman kept her distance from Hughes but "watched him like a hawk", the jury heard.

Mr Walsh asked why the woman did not go to police.

"I didn't know enough about the situation at the time," she said.

"I didn't know how far it had gotten."

Hughes' wife was best friends with the woman and the couples often had dinner parties at the woman's home in the mid-80s.

The alleged victim told the court Hughes assaulted her twice during these dinner parties.

She said she woke up to Hughes kneeling down next to her bed with his hand in her pants.

"I didn't know what to do, I was completely shocked and scared so I just closed my eyes," she told the court.

The woman said she opened her eyes and saw Hughes looking to where his hand was.

"I pushed his hand away..." She said.

"He got up and before he went to leave he licked my right cheek..."

The trial continues.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2014/02/25/11/32/hughes-was-in-victim-s-bedroom-court

Court hears of Hey Dad! star's 'games'

"I don't like the games Robert plays with me."

This was how a seven-year-old girl told her parents of her alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes in the mid-1980s, a Sydney court has heard.

The parents of the alleged victim, who is now 35, gave evidence on Wednesday that they were so alarmed by what their daughter said Hughes had done that they sought help from a child psychologist, contacted police, and eventually moved house to get away from him.

Hughes, 65, has pleaded not guilty to 11 sexual and indecent assault charges stemming from allegations he abused five girls in the 1980s and '90s.

The alleged victim testified that until the age of about seven, she would regularly stay over at Hughes' home on Sydney's north shore, which was not far from her own home.

She told the Downing Centre District Court Hughes would go to her as she slept and use her hand to masturbate him.

"He was like, come on, roll over, and obviously I didn't fight him because I was only little, and he rolled me over and started making me masturbate him," the witness told the Downing Centre District Court via video link.

"(Then) he gave me my teddy back and told me to go back to sleep."

She said she began making excuses not to stay over before telling her parents about the alleged late-night visits.

"(She) was seven years old. She came and said words to the effect of 'I don't like the games Robert plays with me'," her father said on Wednesday about their conversation in early 1986.

"Afterwards we had some discussion, and (she) said, 'Robert put white sticky stuff on my arm' ... She appeared to be seeking some reassurance, some answer."

The family took their story to police, he said, but decided not to pursue charges because they didn't want to put their child through a trial.

The woman went to police again in 2010 after seeing media reports involving other alleged victims of Hughes, the court heard.

The alleged victim's mother said she ran into Hughes' wife, Robyn Gardiner, after hearing the allegations.

"She asked me why (my daughter) wasn't allowed to go to their house any more, and I said words to the effect of, 'Ask your husband'," the mother said.

"She said, 'Oh, we'll have to get him help'. I just told her to get away from me."

Defence barrister Greg Walsh said Ms Gardiner never spoke of seeking help for Hughes.

Within months, the family had moved to a different part of Sydney, the mother said.

She told how another mother later called her with claims her own child had been abused, and how she told her that if she renewed the charges, their children's case would be stronger.

"I told that mother we'd made our decision. We'd moved. We'd got away from him," she said.

The trial continues.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2014/02/26/14/45/hughes-whispered-good-girl-after-abuse

Hey Dad! star 'forced victim to masturbate him'

An alleged child victim of Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes says he gave her a teddy bear after forcing her to masturbate him.

The woman told Sydney's Downing Centre District Court that the actor sexually assaulted her while she was sleeping at his Artarmon family home on Sydney's north shore in the 1980s.

"I remember Robert coming in and telling me to roll over, then he would put my hand with his hand," the victim told the jury via video link.

Hughes then helped the girl masturbate him, she said.

The woman, who is now 35, said she started sleeping on her stomach and on top of her hands when the incidents became more frequent, with her parents oblivious to what was going on just rooms from where they dined.

On one occasion, Hughes allegedly handed her a teddy bear and told her "good girl, go back to sleep".

After she complained to her parents at age seven or eight, they sought counselling, sold their home and moved away from the actor.

Hughes, 64, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges involving five girls.

The boyfriend of another alleged victim told the court his then 16-year-old girlfriend confided in him at Christmas 1986 that she had been molested by Hughes.

The girl's parents were friends with the actor and would regularly stay with him when she was a child, he said.

"She asked if I knew the actor from Hey Dad! Robert Hughes," he said.

"She said late in the evenings when it was bedtime Robert would be fairly insistent to take the children by himself to bed.

"He would then put his hands under the sheets and under their private parts.

"After a short period of time he would leave the room and go downstairs where [the adults] were socialising.

"It had been brought up again on occasion when Robert’s face was on the TV or a reminder of it."

However, Hughes' barrister casted doubt over the man's evidence noting that Hey Dad! did not go to air until the following year, 1987.

The trial continues.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2014/02/26/15/15/hey-dad-s-hughes-gave-victim-teddy-after-masturbating-him

Sexual assault trial of Hey Dad star may begin on Monday

The sexual assault trial against former Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes could begin as early as next Monday.

The 64-year-old pleaded not-guilty earlier this month to 11 charges relating to the alleged sexual assault of five girls between the 80s and 90s.

Mr Hughes, who played Martin Kelly in the popular family series, was extradited to Australia from the UK last year.

He has maintained his innocence and regularly fronted court in the company of his wife.

Jury selection is expected to begin on Monday at Sydney's Downing District Court.

http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/sexaul-assault-trial-hey-dad-star/2175029/

The house where John Flanagan and Gary Reilly wrote earlier eps of Hey Dad

http://www.jenniferaaron.com.au/residential-rentals/67701-99-mort-street.html

Today is the 27th Anniversary of Hey Dad's Debut on Channel 7

Hey Dad Premiered on February 11th 1987

Happy 27th Birthday :)

Robert Hughes pleads not guilty

Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes has appeared in a Sydney court to formally deny historical child sex allegations.

Hughes appeared at the Downing Centre District Court on Monday where he was indicted on 11 charges dating back to the 1980s and relating to four alleged victims.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and did not speak to waiting media as he left court.

His trial is expected to begin later this month.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/21378614/robert-hughes-pleads-not-guilty/

Former Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes pleads not guilty to 11 child sex offences

Australian actor Robert Hughes has formally pleaded not guilty to 11 child sex offences.

Wearing a suit, the former star of the television series Hey Dad! has faced court to formally plead not guilty to the charges which date back to the 1980s.

He entered the plea at his arraignment at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court.

The 64-year-old is accused of assaulting five children between 1985 and 1990.

Police say the children were aged seven to 15 at the time.

The former actor made no comment to the media as he left the court building.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-10/robert-hughes-pleads-not-guilty-to-11-child-sex-offences/5250066

Former Hey Dad! star proclaims innocence in court over 11 sexual and indecent assault charges

FORMER Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of sexual and indecent assault.

The one-time actor will now stand trial in Sydney’s District Court.

He is being represented by Sydney solicitor Greg Walsh.

Hughes, 64, has today formally denied all charges against him, which relate to the alleged assault of five young girls.

He played the lead role of Martin Kelly in Hey Dad!, which ran from 1987 to 1994.

Hughes was arrested in London in 2012 and bought back to Australia to face the charges. He has consistently maintained his innocence.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/former-hey-dad-star-proclaims-innocence-in-court-over-11-sexual-and-indecent-assault-charges/story-fni0cx4q-1226822708459

Hey Dad star pleads not guilty to 11 historic sex offences

AUSTRALIAN actor Robert Hughes has pleaded not-guilty to 11 historic sex offences.

Four women have told police they were abused by Hughes in their younger years, when he was playing the lead role of Martin Kelly in the popular family show Hey Dad!

The 64-year-old has maintained his innocence since the charges were laid last year.

A formal not-guilty plea was entered at Sydney's Downing District Court on Monday.

A trial date is expected to be set later this month.

http://www.news-mail.com.au/news/hey-dad-star-pleads-not-guilty/2165384/