Former Pop Star Gary Glitter Sentenced to 16 Years for Child Sex Offenses

LONDON (Reuters) - 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 sentenced to 16 years in prison after being found guilty of indecently assaulting three girls.

Glitter, 70, whose real name is Paul Gadd, rose to prominence with the hit song “Rock and Roll”, and became renowned for his figure-hugging shiny silver jump suits and platform shoes.

But his reputation was destroyed after he served two months in jail in 1999 for possession of child pornography, the first of several convictions.

Earlier this month, he was found guilty in a London court 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.

Sentencing Glitter on Friday, Judge Alistair McCreath said the star had abused his fame and caused deep harm to his victims.

"It is difficult to overstate the depravity of this dreadful behavior," he said at Southwark Crown Court.

Glitter was the first person to be arrested as part of a wider police investigation into accusations of historical 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.

The broader investigation, codenamed Operation Yewtree, has led to the conviction of several former high-profile figures including veteran Australian entertainer Rolf Harris and the country’s best-known showbiz publicist, Max Clifford.

After his conviction in 1999, Gadd, who had denied the latest charges, had 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.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Angus MacSwan)