AUSTRALIAN actor Maggie Kirkpatrick has denied allegations she sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in a child abuse case dating back to the 1980s.

In the latest string of child abuse cases surfacing after decades of silence, the 74-year-old star was charged with two counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency with a person under the age of 16 by Victoria Police’s Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team.

Kirkpatrick, famous for her villainous role as The Freak on acclaimed series The Prisoner, told the Herald Sun (subscription only), “I need to go to court to have this ridiculous situation quashed. Allegations have been levelled at me, yes. Are they true? Absolutely not.”

Kirkpatrick has appeared in some of Australian television’s best known shows, including Home and Away, All Saints, Water Rats and GP.

The complainant was understood to be aged 13 at the time the offences were allegedly committed. Police sources told the Herald Sun that the child was not part of the entertainment industry.

Kirkpatrick’s website biography says she and her brother were brought up their mother after their father was killed in North Africa when she was a baby.

She took drama at school, and took part in school productions but grew bored with school and quit at the age of 15.

Her entry into the world of acting really began after she starred in Shakesperian production at the age of 19.

Despite having a successful stage career it wasn’t until her Prisoner role that she became a household name, a role she is still remembered for, even though the series ended in 1986.

Kirkpatrick divorced husband Norman Kirkpatrick in 1979. The couple had one child, a daughter, during their 16 year marriage.

Last year, Kirkpatrick’s Hey Dad! co-star Robert Hughes was jailed for 10 years and nine months last year after being found guilty of child sex offences.

Read more on this exclusive story at the Herald Sun. [subscription required]