So what if they are innocent:

Operation Yewtree is an enquiry into historical sexual abuse allegations involving celebrities. It was launched in 2012 following the Jimmy Savile case.

Today the Crown prosecution service announced that comedian Freddie Starr would not face prosecution after first being questioned in November 2012.

Mr Starr’s lawyers have claimed his arrest was a “flagrant breech” of his human rights due to the length of time it took to reach the decision.

Prosecutors finally dropped the charges due to insufficient evidence in allegations made by 13 people, despite there being enough evidence in a 14^th case for a likely successful prosecution, which the CPS say is not in the public interest. The CPS have faced criticism from some who claim that the arrests of famous celebrities including comedian Jim Davidson, DJ Dave Lee Travis, entertainer Jimmy Tarbuck and Artist Rolf Harris are little more than a witch hunt.

Travis and Harris are yet to face the jury while Davidson was cleared of all charges against him in January before winning Celebrity Big Brother. Veteran comic Tarbuck was also released without charge. Other famous names have faced long trials including Coronation Street favourite William Roach, before being found innocent. There have been calls for suspects to retain their anonymity until convicted as a result of these cases.

So how do the police and the CPS decide what is in the public interest and which leads to simply ignore? They certainly face some tough decisions. It has been said that by suggesting compensation may be available to victims jeopardises the operation as “gold diggers” may tempted to invent assaults. Others claim that by bringing these high profile cases before the judge will encourage genuine victims to come forward.

I think the message has to be loud and clear that people in the privileged circle of show business are not above the law, and any credible allegation will be followed up, and furthermore, anyone found guilty must feel the full weight of the justice system.

Disgraced ex- it’s a knock out sports commentator Stuart Hall is accused of 15 rapes and 5 indecent assaults. He was jailed last year for just 15 months, later extended to 30 month’s for attacks on girls aged as young as 9 years old. He faces a catalogue of further allegations.

PR guru Max Clifford became the first famous name to be jailed last week, after being found guilty of a string of assaults on girls and young women. He was sentenced to eight years.  

The guilt of celebrities abusing not only females but the position of trust fame gives them seems somehow more disgusting than members of the public being charged. They enjoy the trapping and wealth that their position brings and so the deceit and betrayal feels more personal to those who admired them. The fact is that they should be treated exactly the same as any other common criminal accused of similar charges and when found guilty should face the same punishment.

In defence of the actions of these fallen celeb’s people have said that we should bare in mind that culture has changed and things were acceptable in those days. What? Absolute nonsense! In celebrity circles and TV studios it may have been the norm to grope children and young women but even celebrities should know the difference between right and wrong. Jimmy Savile conned the world for decades hiding his filthy secrets behind the public persona he so carefully shaped, even being knighted. The lesson we must learn is that being a famous person does not guarantee decency.

All that said, there is an argument that people should be protected somewhat against malicious accusations.

In 2003 Stars in their eyes host Mathew Kelly was arrested over allegations of child sex abuse. He was eventually cleared but not before losing his lucrative job on prime time TV.

Peter Adamson, who played Len Fairclough in Coronation Street was arrested in 1983, accused of molesting two girls in a public swimming pool. His career was ruined despite him being cleared of the charges and he eventually died a penniless alcoholic in 2002. Soccer manager Dave Jones was suspended by his club Southampton after being accused of sexual assault. He also was cleared of the charges. There is a crude but true saying up north – shit sticks. Many people still remember Len Fairclough being accused of sexual assault with more than a few wrongly thinking he was actually convicted. Sadly, this often the case and the life and career of one can be destroyed by such allegations. The media has a responsibility to remember this when slapping headlines about the accused on their front pages. The police and the CPS have a moral responsibility to not leak these arrests to the press. In some cases the press have been present as the wrongly accused man has been taken away.

One can only imagine how it must feel to be wrongly accused of such awful crimes. Thankfully, I can only imagine how it must feel to be a victim of such crimes and this too should be considered. The more failed prosecutions hit the news the greater chance there is of genuine victims thinking it is pointless publicly reliving the nightmare and putting themselves through the scrutiny.

I suspect that considering all I have said that Operation Yewtree should continue to investigate the accusations, but should exercise a little integrity when deciding who to arrest and whether it is in public interest for a news crew to be present when they reach that decision.