MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) β Veteran actress Maggie Kirkpatrick, who played a violent and corrupt warden nicknamed “The Freak” in a cult Australian soap opera set in a women’s prison, has appeared in a court charged over child sex allegations dating back to the 1980s.
The series was known as “Prisoner” in Australia, and “Prisoner: Cell Block H” or “Caged Women” overseas. It ran from 1979 to 1986.
Kirkpatrick, whose character Joan “the Freak” Ferguson would molest inmates with the excuse of conducting body searches, was charged in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday with two counts of indecently assaulting a 13-year-old girl and one count of gross indecency with a person under 16.
The court was closed while the complainant testified. The hearing was continuing. The 74-year-old has denied the allegations.
