Coronation Street actor Bill Roache will reportedly be edited out of an upcoming show after being arrested over rape allegations.
The 81-year-old actor, who has spent over 50 years playing Kevin Barlow, was questioned over the rape of a 15-year-old girl in 1967.
Television network ITV said it would edit out a number of scenes from Friday’s show in the UK that feature the actor, reported the Daily Telegraph.
He would not appear in the show while the investigations continued, said the network.
In March, Roache was forced to apologise after an outcry over his comments suggesting the victims of sexual abuse were paying the price for actions in previous lives. He also made comments that seemed to excuse paedophilia.
In regards to the Jimmy Savile sex abuse allegations, Roache said the public should be “totally forgiving” of people who had committed sex crimes.
Lancashire Police told the Daily Mail: ”An 81-year-old man from Wilmslow in Cheshire has this morning, Wednesday, 1st May 2013, been arrested by Lancashire Constabulary on suspicion of rape.
”The man will be interviewed at a police station in Lancashire during the course of the day.
“The offences are alleged to have been committed in Haslingden between April and July 1967 and to involve a girl aged 15 years.
”We take all allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously and would encourage people with any information about sexual abuse, or anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, to come forward and report their concerns confident in the knowledge they will be investigated appropriately and with sensitivity.”
Another actor on the show, Michael Le Vell, who played Kevin Webster, was charged with raping a child in February. He was written out of the programme.
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