14 DAY TRIAL // William Roache is the longest-serving soap opera actor and has a Guinness Book of World Records title to prove it. He has been officially charged in the UK with two counts of rape, Reuters reports.
He was arrested yesterday and is to appear in front of a judge on May 14.
His prosecution is only the latest development in the investigation launched shortly after BBC television presenter Jimmy Savile’s death in 2011, which uncovered a string of abuses and crimes of this nature.
“We have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest for Mr. Roache to be charged with two offences of rape relating to a girl, aged 15, in 1967,” prosecutor Nazir Afzal says in a statement.
The 81-year-old actor is now behind bars. His most famous TV role is that of Ken Barlow on “Coronation Street.”
At the time of writing, neither he nor his publicist has released a statement on his situation.