All that Glitters not gold: former Glam star wants out of Vietnam slammer

By Gabriela Isabel Chavez

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 9/7/07 – Former British rocker Gary Glitter who is currently serving time in Vietnam on child molestation charges will ask for amnesty. The 63-year-old fallen star from the 1970′s is set to ask the Vietnamese communist government to release him later this month. Glitter has been behind bars since 2005 after being convicted to serve three years in prison for performing lewd acts on two girls, ages 11 and 12.

The former singer with a flair for fashion was once famous for his flamboyant wigs and sparkling jumpsuits crooning hits like, “I’m The Leader Of The Gang (I Am!)” and “Do You Wanna Touch Me?” Nowadays, the disgraced glam-popper has lived the life of a criminal gypsy, fleeing from one country to another — performing more jail time than stage time.

Glitter’s lawyer, Le Thanh Kinh, states that by month’s end, Glitter will have served two thirds of his time. Kinh also says that Glitter “has obeyed prison rules and has compensated the victims…he may be freed this month.” Although Glitter has denied the charges against him, he has paid the victim’s families a sum of $2,000 each. Glitter’s case will be reviewed by the Central Amnesty Council who will determine if he has made “good progress in re-education” aside from him serving more than half his sentence.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was first convicted in 1999 when a British court ruled him guilty of child pornography. Since then, he fell into a downward spiral having run-ins with the law and even being expelled from Cambodia. Glitter’s final stop was in Vung Tau, a Vietnamese resort town where three prostitutes he had met in Cambodia assisted him in procuring minors for sex. His fleeing spree would have continued had he not been detained at the Ho Chi Minh City airport in November 2005. Glitter was then charged with child molestation and put behind bars.

Glitter and his lawyer remain hopeful that the Vietnamese government will grant him amnesty later this month, throwing out his official release date of August 2008 and giving him another opportunity to be out free to shine.