VIETNAM/FILE: Fallen British rock star Gary Glitter to be released from Vietnamese jail

Record ID: 749559

  • Title: VIETNAM/FILE: Fallen British rock star Gary Glitter to be released from Vietnamese jail
  • Date: 19th August 2008
  • Summary: (ASIA) BANGKOK, THAILAND (AUGUST 19, 2008) (REUTERS) DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ECPAT INTERNATIONAL, MARK CAPALDI MEETING WITH EAST ASIA STAFFS CAPALDI TALKING TO STAFFS SOUNDBITE (English) MARK CAPALDI SAYING, "Hopefully, we won't see him now hopping from on country to another, where child sex tourism still exist. Hopefully, he will go back to UK. and his movements and behaviours
  • Embargoed: 3rd September 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA7AZ4CT81TSMYTHP9O1ZE5ZFVQ
  • Story Text: Shamed U.K. rock star Gary Glitter is due to leave Vietnam where he has been serving a jail sentence for sexually abusing minors.
    Former British glam rocker Gary Glitter was due to be freed from a Vietnamese prison on Tuesday (August 19) after serving a sentence for sexually abusing minors and was set to leave the country.
    He was expected to be deported later in the day.
    Glitter, 64, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was arrested in Vietnam in late 2005 and convicted the following year for committing obscene acts with two girls then aged 11 and 12 in Vung Tau, a resort town in southern Vietnam.
    Britain has not announced any outstanding charges against the 1970s pop star once famed for his flamboyant bouffant wigs and silver jumpsuits.
    Sources at the Home Office in London said if he were to settle in his native country he would be required to sign the sex offenders' register.
    Non-governmental organizations (NGO) involved in helping sexually abused children hoped Glitter's future travel would be monitored so he does not harm other children.

    "Hopefully, we won't see him now hopping from on country to another, where child sex tourism still exist. Hopefully, he will go back to UK. and his movements and behaviours will be assessed and monitor. So that, he then will not to be a risk to the children either in the UK. or overseas if heup travelling," said Mark Capaldi, Deputy Director of End Child Prostitution Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) International, an NGO based in the Netherlands.
    Despite the arrest of high-profile figures like Glitter, Southeast Asia remains a haven for paedophiles due to a lack of laws to protect minors and poverty.
    Glitter, known for his bouffant hairstyle, make-up, high heels and "glam rock" performances, rose to fame in the 1970s with hits such as "Rock and Roll (Parts 1 & 2)", "I Love You Love Me Love", "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" and "I'm the Leader of Gang (I am)".
    ENDS.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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