Harris won't be tried over 'teen' porn

Rolf Harris will not stand trial over allegations he downloaded sexual images of children. Source: AAP

CONVICTED pedophile Rolf Harris won't be tried for allegedly downloading indecent photos when looking at pornographic websites with names such as "tiny teen girlfriends" and "my little nieces".

PROSECUTORS on Friday announced they would drop four outstanding child pornography charges after Harris this week was convicted of 12 indecent assaults.

"In the light of the 12 unanimous convictions on the counts that Mr Harris faced the Crown Prosecution Service has decided that it is no longer in the public interest to proceed with a trial on these four charges," barrister Sasha Wass QC told Southwark Crown Court.

It had been alleged the 84-year-old had downloaded illegal images in the first half of 2012.

Harris was charged over the pictures but hadn't been required to enter pleas.

His legal team told Justice Nigel Sweeney in previously unreportable legal argument that the models in the photographs were over 18 according to their identity documents provided by website bosses in the Ukraine.

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They also maintained the entertainer accidentally accessed the images when he clicked on links from mainstream porn sites.

But prosecutors claimed he had looked at sites called "youngest teen porn", "young teen girls", as well as "teeny tiny girlfriends" and "my little nieces".

Ms Wass said Harris accessed pictures of girls who were "extremely young in appearance".

He returned to some images "over and over again".

"If it was an accident it appears to be an accident that occurs a number of times," the barrister said.

The court heard Harris had made handwritten notes in his diary outlining how to delete his computer's browsing history.

Expert opinion gathered by both sides disagreed over whether the images were of underage girls.

The defence maintained all the models were adults.

Teenage pornographic material shouldn't automatically be considered indecent as the girls could be over 18, defence lawyer Simon Ray said, adding "teen", "young" and "tiny" were common terms appearing on many legal websites.

He said of 844 unique page preview files on Harris's computer, 485 were non-pornographic pages, 328 were adult-themed pornography while just 31, or about four per cent, were teen-themed.

He noted the entertainer could have been redirected to some websites via advertising.

The defence argued the charges should be thrown out after identity cards were provided by website companies.

Harris was sentenced to five years and nine months' jail on Friday for indecently assaulting four girls in the UK between 1968 and 1986.

He'll likely serve just half of that sentence.