Coronation Street’s Michael Le Vell has said he forgives the girl who falsely accused him of rape.
The actor, who last week was found not guilty of rape and indecent assault, is hoping to return to Coronation Street in the coming months.
Le Vell, who plays Kevin Webster on the long running soap, revealed “I was angry in the beginning but I am not an angry person and I don’t hold grudges.”
Michael plays Kevin Webster on Coronation Street
In an interview with The Sunday Mirror, his sisters Susan Westcott and Glenis Gill said he is determined to forgive the girl – but suggested her mother was behind the allegations.
He told them: “I know I am a good man and an innocent man – now the world knows that too. In time I do think I will be strong enough to forgive.”
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed Le Vell abused her from the age of six and once raped her as she clutched her favourite teddy bear.
Glenis, 60, said: “I think the girl’s mother set out to destroy Michael – that is how we all feel. It was vindictive. She was hell-bent on destroying Michael.
“I still don’t know why the charges were ever brought. Our family don’t believe it should have ever have gone to court.”
Susan, 54, said: “When Michael was first charged he kept saying to us ‘I never, I never, I never’. I said, ‘Michael you don’t need to say that – we know you didn’t do this’.
“I know what kind of man my brother is. That’s why I don’t think he will bear any grudges towards the girl. Even in court, if you listened to what Michael said about the girl and her mother, he was not vindictive. That’s not how he is. He is a good man, a lovely person and was brought up with good morals.
