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Hey Hey producer facing rape charges

Gavan Disney, co-producer of Hey Hey its Saturday, is facing rape and sexual assault charges with a teenage boy more than 20 years ago.

Gavan Disney, co-producer of Hey Hey its Saturday for is facing rape and sexual assault charges involving a teenage boy who worked with him more than 20 years ago.

Disney, 59, of Toorak, is facing 15 charges including two rape charges, claims The Age.

The victim said that while he was employed at Ballarat station BTV6, he was repeatedly groped by Disney during the period of his early employment in 1980, when he was aged 17, a statement tendered to the court said.

In his statement, the man, now 46, alleges that Disney had grabbed him by the head and tried to kiss him when he came out of the boardroom toilets on another occasion.He said he was also pushed onto his knees by Disney and sexually assaulted.

The victim said he felt affected by alcohol and had been drinking whisky with Disney in the station’s boardroom on one of the occasions, soon after taking a job at the network.

“I felt privileged by the circumstance of drinking in the boardroom and his sharing of seemingly intimate information and anecdotes, which was a new experience for me,” he said in the statement.

As well as the two rape charges that date back to 1981 and 1983, Disney faces eight charges of indecently assaulting a male in 1980, four charges of indecent assault in 1981 and a charge of indecent assault in 1983.

Disney was the producer on Hey Hey from its inception in 1971 until he fell out with host and co-creator Daryl Somers in 1990. Disney later moved to Channel 10, where he produced the hit show Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.

Source: The Age