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Actor John Jarratt charged over historic rape allegation

Australian actor John Jarratt has been charged with raping a woman in Sydney more than 40 years ago.

NSW Police allege the woman, then 18, was sexually assaulted at a house in Randwick, in the city’s eastern suburbs, in September 1976.

Mr Jarrett was 24 at the time of the alleged incident.

The woman made a report to officers at the Eastern Beaches Police Area Command in November 2017, which police confirmed at the time they would investigate further.

On Saturday, NSW Police released a statement saying a 66-year-old man had on Friday been issued with a notice to attend court.

He is due to face Waverley Local court on October 10.

When approached by Nine News on Saturday, Mr Jarratt again denied the allegation.

“I’m fine, because I’m innocent,” he said. “I’m good, because I’m a good man.”

His management representative at Ignite Elite Artists said of the claim in November 2017: “John emphatically and completely denies the allegations of sexual assault.”

“These allegations are completely unfounded and untrue.”

A spokeswoman for Ignite Elite Artists told The New Daily they no longer acted for Mr Jarratt.

The actor graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) in 1973 before going on to appear in many Australian television shows including Play School, A Country Practice and McLeod’s Daughters.

Mr Jarrett also had a long stint as a presenter on lifestyle show Better Homes and Gardens.

He is best known for the 2005 horror film Wolf Creek, in which he played Mick Taylor.

The charge stems from a statement made by the woman to Shoalhaven police in NSW last November.

“Police are investigating an allegation of a historic sexual assault on Sydney’s eastern beaches,” a NSW Police spokeswoman confirmed at the time.

Journalist Tracey Spicer, who began a campaign in 2017 encouraging people to come forward with stories of alleged misconduct in the media and entertainment industries, told The New Daily late last year that the woman who alleges Mr Jarratt raped her, had approached her first. She subsequently advised the woman to report the alleged crime to police.

“I gave her the advice to talk to a female officer, and she did. It’s courageous to take that kind of action,” Ms Spicer said.

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