A prankster sparked outrage after winning a prize at a fancy dress competition as paedophile Rolf Harris – while holding a sign which read: ‘I touch kids’.
Oliver Denton, 29, dressed up as the former Animal Hospital presenter, 87, and was wearing a waistcoat, a goatee beard and a pair of glasses.
A photograph of him receiving a certificate on a stage was posted on the carnival’s Facebook page and it has since been blasted by furious parents.
He was stood next a white piece of paper – placed on an easel – which also included the statement: ‘I love Jimmy Savile’ and was signed by ‘R Harris’.
Oliver Denton (right) dressed up as Rolf Harris and won a prize in a competition at a carnival in Norfolk
Mr Denton did not scoop the main prize, however took home ‘one of the top three prizes’, according to the carnival’s chairman.
Organisers of the Cromer Carnival in Norfolk uploaded pictures of the event but this particular image sparked a strong response on social media, The Sun reports.
Other contestants had entered the competition dressed as Jesus, the Joker, the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz and Harley Quinn from the film Suicide Squad.
Local Lauren Ball wrote online: ‘This is absolutely disgusting and sick. Celebrating someone making a joke out of something so serious. Genuinely shocked.’
Martin Hipkin added the festival should be ‘ashamed’ and blasted the costume as being ‘not really appropriate’.
Mr Denton was wearing a waistcoat and Harris’ famous goatee beard and glasses
Chairman Tony Shipp admitted the judges on the night were not aware that Mr Oliver was entering as Harris as he stated he would be dressing up as an ‘artist’.
He was quoted in the newspaper as saying: ‘We are sorry if any offence has been caused. He won one of the top three prizes, not the top one.’
When approached by The Sun, Mr Denton declined to comment about the photograph.
Harris was jailed for five years for indecently assaulting four girls aged between eight and 19 and was a free man after serving time at HMP Stafford.
In June, he was seen for the first time after he was freed from prison one month earlier.
Harris – who was a respected artist who once painted a portrait of the Queen – was wearing clothes covered in paint when he made his way into a car outside the police station in Windsor, Berkshire.
The Australian entertainer was said to be planning a shock television comeback last month by begging his team to find him a new show.