Former British pop star Gary Glitter convicted of sexual abuse

Former British pop star Gary Glitter, best known for the rock anthem Rock & Roll (Part 2) that was popular throughout the U.S. and Britain, has been found guilty of sexually abusing three minors under the age of 13 between 1975 and 1980. The 70-year-old’s offenses will put him in prison for the rest of his life.

Glitter, or Paul Gadd, was convicted of four counts of indecent assault, one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13 and one count of attempted rape, according to Rolling Stone. In Britain, life in prison is the sentence for someone who practices unlawful sex with a minor. According to New York Daily News, he was cleared of three other charges. Glitter will be sentenced on Feb. 27.

According to The Guardian, Glitter was shocked after the jury reached their verdict. He reportedly “raised his eyebrows” and “blew kisses to the public gallery” as he headed toward the cells.

Judge Alistair McCreath announced that Glitter will remain in jail until he is sentenced. Detective Chief Inspector Michael Orchard called Glitter a “sexual predator” who took advantage of his celebrity status and used it to “target young girls.”

He was arrested in October 2012 as a part of the Operation Yewtree investigation that was formed during the time of the Jimmy Savile child abuse scandal. It was during this period that the abused women found the courage to step forward. And he denied the allegations against him.

This is not Gadd’s first encounter with sexual offenses. In 1999, he was sentenced to four months in prison in Britain for possession of child pornography. He was deported to Vietnam after being held in jail for accusations of sexual abuse in Cambodia in 2003. In 2006, he was convicted of sexual abuse in Vietnam and was sentenced to three years in jail. Prosecutors claimed that the “immunity of fame” left Gadd, father of three, unpunished for decades before.

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