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Glitter Charged with Obscene Acts
If there's a bright side for Gary Glitter, it's this: He won't be facing a firing squad.
The "Do You Wanna Touch" performer, whose real name is Francis Gadd, was formally charged Friday with committing obscene acts on two girls, ages 11 and 12, at his residence in the southern Vietnamese resort town of Vung Tau.
Prosecutors did not have enough evidence to charge the 61-year-old Glitter with the more serious count of child rape, which carries a maximum penalty of death by firing squad. Instead, the faded British glam rocker now faces the possibility of a three- to seven-year prison term if convicted on the lesser charges.
Glitter has been passing his time in a jail since police collared him in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 19 as he attempted to board a flight to Bangkok. He was wanted for questioning after allegations surfaced that he committed "lewd acts" on several minors. Vietnam's age of consent is 16.
During the subsequent investigation, the crooner admitted to authorities that he let an 11-year-old girl sleep in his bed, but denied sexually molesting her. Instead, he claimed he shared his bed with the girl because she was afraid of ghosts. Earlier, Glitter had said he had been tutoring the girls in English.
Prosecutors weren't buying it, though, especially after Glitter's attorney, Le Thanh Kinh, revealed last month that he had paid the families of the two girls $2,000 each "for cooperation" in his legal case.
"After receiving the money, they informed the investigation bureau that they don't want to go to court and they want to drop the case," Kinh told the Associated Press.
Kinh said the girls' families initially demanded $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, before settling on $2,000 each, which is three times the average annual salary in Vietnam.
The payouts sparked outrage from child advocacy groups, who accused the erstwhile pop star of trying to buy his way out of his predicament.
Kinh has tried to get Glitter let out on $40,000 bail, but prosecutor Nguyen Van Xung has told reporters it would be unlikely because Glitter is considered a major flight risk.
Xung also said the reason Gadd isn't facing the more serious child-rape charge is because one of the girls who displayed evidence of engaging in sexual intercourse told detectives she had previously done so with a boyfriend.
As for the money paid to the girls' families, Xung said the only way it would affect Glitter's case would be after trial. If convicted, Xung said, a judge might deem the payments a form of compensation for the abuse and grant a reduced sentence.
The one-time hitmaker, famed for the sports-friendly anthem "Rock and Roll Part II," previously pleaded guilty in 1999 to 54 counts of possessing kiddie porn in his native England and spent two months in prison and placed on a child sex offender list. Following his release, Glitter turned up in Cuba, then Cambodia before child-welfare activists hounded him out of the country.
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