British publicist Clifford denies teen sex charges
LONDON: British celebrity publicist Max Clifford yesterday pleaded not guilty in a London court to 11 counts of indecent assault on teenage girls, saying the charges were unfounded.
Clifford, 70, allegedly committed the offences between 1966 and 1985 on girls and women ranging in age from 14 to 19.
The publicist, who has become a wellknown figure himself through his work to protect the image of scandal-hit celebrities in Britain’s tabloid press, was released on conditional bail.
“I’m totally innocent of these allegations and the nightmare continues,” he said outside court, surrounded by a scrum of photographers.
“What I’ve got to do now is to prove that these allegations are totally without foundation, which I know they are.”
Clifford was arrested in December and charged last month as part of a wider investigation into sex offences sparked by allegations against the late BBC presenter Jimmy Savile.
The charges are unrelated to Savile, who allegedly abused hundreds of women and young girls while “hiding in plain sight” as one of the most familiar faces in British entertainment for four decades. Clifford was told he must live at his home in Surrey, outside London, until his next court appearance on June 12 and must not contact any prosecution witnesses.
He is among a handful of celebrities arrested under a Scotland Yard investigation codenamed Operation Yewtree set up in the wake of the Savile scandal.