LONDON — Former British pop singer Gary Glitter, who shot to fame in the 1970s as a "glam-rock" star but was later convicted of child sex crimes, was found guilty on Thursday of indecently assaulting three girls.
Glitter, 70, whose real name is Paul Gadd, came to prominence with the hit "Rock and Roll", and became renowned for his figure-hugging shiny silver all-in-one suits and platform shoes. "Rock and Roll Part 2" became an unmistakable, cheer-along stadium anthem in the United States.
But his reputation was destroyed after he served two months in jail in 1999 for possession of child pornography. He then moved to Cambodia, but was deported in 2002 due to suspected sex offences. In 2006, a Vietnamese court convicted him of committing obscene acts with two girls aged 10 and 11 and sentenced him to four years in jail. On his release he returned to Britain.
On Thursday, he was convicted of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one of having sex with a girl under the age of 13, all in the 1970s. Gadd, who denied all the charges, will be sentenced on Feb. 27 at Southwark Crown Court.
Gadd was the first person arrested as part of a wider police investigation into accusations of past sex offences by show business personalities triggered by revelations that the late BBC television presenter Jimmy Savile had been a prolific sex offender for decades.
