Barry George has been charged with rape and two indecent assaults against a teenager alleged to have happened almost four decades ago, police have said.
The Metropolitan police said the alleged offences happened in west London against a 14-year-old girl in September 1987.
George, 65, who now lives in County Cork, Ireland, was wrongly convicted of murdering the BBC journalist Jill Dando. He spent eight years in jail for the 1999 killing, before being released in 2008 after a unanimous acquittal.
Dando, 37, was shot and killed on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, west London, and the case remains unsolved. George has always denied any responsibility for Dando’s death.
In a statement about the new charges, which were sent to George by post, the Met said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised the Metropolitan police service to charge a man after an investigation by detectives.
“The Met has issued a charge and requisition to Barry George, 65 (15/04/1960), of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, in connection with the following offences: one count of rape [and] two counts of indecent assault.
“It is alleged that a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted on two separate occasions between 6 and 12 September 1987. The woman is now in her 50s. The incidents are reported to have taken place in west London.”
Det Supt Andy Furphy said: “These charges follow an investigation by a team of Met detectives. Specially trained officers continue to support the woman who has come forward.”
George is scheduled to appear at Westminster magistrates court on 29 October.
Lionel Idan, the chief crown prosecutor for the CPS London South, said: “We remind all concerned that proceedings against the suspect are active and he has a right to a fair trial.
“We recognise there is likely to be considerable interest in this case, however it is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in anyway prejudice these proceedings.”
Dando’s killing, in which she was shot with a single bullet to the head at point blank range, shocked Britain. George was arrested in May 2000. He was first convicted by an Old Bailey jury in 2001, and then in 2007 the court of appeal quashed the verdict after hearing new evidence and concluding the murder conviction was unsafe.
At a retrial in 2008, a second jury acquit George of Dando’s murder and he was released from prison.
