Paedophile and disgraced former pop star Gary Glitter has been freed from prison in Dorset after serving half his 16-year jail term. Glitter had been sentenced for attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one charge of having sex with a girl under 13.
Glitter, real name Paul Gladd, was convicted and jailed in 2015. The crimes occurred while Glitter was at the height of his fame in the 1970s. The Associated Press reports that he left HMP The Verne, a low security, category C jail in Portland, Dorset, on Friday. Glitter will now be subject to licence conditions. During sentencing, Judge Alistair McCreath said there was “no real evidence that” Glitter had atoned for his crimes. “You did all of the real and lasting damage and you did so for no other reason than to obtain sexual gratification for yourself of a wholly improper kind,” McCreath said.
“It is difficult to overstate the gravity of this dreadful behaviour,” McCreath continued.
Glitter invited two girls, aged 12 and 13, backstage to his dressing room, isolating them from their mothers before attacking them.
In 1975, his third victim was younger than 10 years old when he crept into her bed and tried to rape her.
The judge said it was clear his victims “were all profoundly affected” by the abuse.
The allegations came to light after Glitter was the first person arrested under Operation Yewtree, launched by the Metropolitan Police in the wake of the Jimmy Saville scandal.
Before then, however, Glitter had a string of paedophilia offences. He was jailed in 1999 for possessing 4,000 child pornography images.
He was expelled from Cambodia in 2002 amid reports of sex crime allegations.
In March 2006, in Vietnam, Glitter was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, spending two-and-a-half years in jail.
Glitter, real name Paul Gladd, was convicted and jailed in 2015. The crimes occurred while Glitter was at the height of his fame in the 1970s. The Associated Press reports that he left HMP The Verne, a low security, category C jail in Portland, Dorset, on Friday. Glitter will now be subject to licence conditions. During sentencing, Judge Alistair McCreath said there was “no real evidence that” Glitter had atoned for his crimes. “You did all of the real and lasting damage and you did so for no other reason than to obtain sexual gratification for yourself of a wholly improper kind,” McCreath said.
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 05: Gary Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, arrives at Southwark Crown Court on February 5, 2015, in London, England. The former glam rock star faces 10 charges relating to alleged sexual crimes from the 1970s and early 1980s. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
