Gary Glitter, a 70-year old former glam-rock singer that is best known for “Rock and Roll (Part 2), was convicted on several charges of historical sexual abuse by a court in London.
On February 5th, 2015, Glitter, who’s real name is Paul Gadd, was convicted of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault, and one of having sex with a girl under the age of 13. He denied committing these crimes, and was acquitted on three other counts by London’s Southwark Crown Court.
The Metropolitan Police are examining new information that relates to other potential victims, which came to light during the trial, according a report by the BBC.
Meanwhile, Gadd was remanded to police custody and will await a sentencing hearing that is scheduled to take place on the 27th of February. For the charge of having sex with an underage girl, he could face a life sentence.
The court heard testimony from the victims.
One victim was under the age of 10 when the singer tried to rape her in 1975, as she slept in a room at his mansion. She managed to escape by moving away and then wrapping herself in sheets and blankets. And, she locked herself in a bathroom, while Gadd had fallen asleep in the bed. The victim told the court that she felt “ashamed and dirty”, following the attack.
In separate incidents, Gadd also attacked two other girls backstage, but he claims that could not have abused either of them there because he had been cleaning his wig.
The first girl, aged 12, was invited back to Gadd’s hotel suite at the Holiday Inn after a show at a Leicester nightclub in 1977. The abuse took place on the bed there, according to the BBC.
The second girl was aged 13 or 14, when Gadd invited her sit on his lap in his dressing room. Once there, he forcefully kissed her and put his hand up her skirt, telling her after that it was to be their secret. The incident with the second girl occurred between October 1979 and December 1980, the BBC reports.
In an interview with the BBC, Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Mick Orchard said, that Gadd had “shown himself to be a sexual predator who took advantage of the star status afforded to him by targeting young girls who trusted him and were in awe of his fame.” Detective Chief Inspector Orchard added that “his lack of remorse and defence that the victims were lying make his crimes all the more indefensible.”
During the trial, Gadd showed no remorse and attempted to discredit the victims’ stories by portraying himself as a man that had a record, but had paid for his crimes and now faced new allegations.
Gadd was previously convicted of possessing more than 4,000 of child pornography in 1999, and spent four months in prison. And, during 2006, he spent time in jail in Vietnam after being convicted by local court of molesting two girls, aged 11 and 12. One of the Vietnamese victims agreed to speak to the BBC on the condition of anonymity.
The London-based jury of seven women and five men saw through Gadd’s performance, finding credibility in the victims’ testimonies to convict Gadd after a two-week trial.
“Crimes such as these have repercussions for victims that can last for a lifetime,” Chief Crown prosecutor, and head of the Crown Prosecution Service in London, Baljit Ubhey told BBC. And, he went on to say that “[t]he bravery of the victims and other witnesses in this case cannot be understated and their testimony has been vital in bringing Paul Gadd to justice.”
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