Posted on 12/29/2005 5:09:50 PM PST by wagglebee
The former rock star Gary Glitter has paid more than £2,000 to the families of two under-age Vietnamese girls he is accused of sexually abusing, his lawyer has confirmed.
Glitter gave £1,100 each to the families of the 11 and 12-year-old girls he allegedly had sex with, the lawyer said. The families, who were paid two weeks ago in US dollars, had originally asked for £5,600 and £3,000.
Last week both families wrote letters to the court asking for the case against the 70s’ star to be dropped.
The payments have been condemned as "shameful" by justice campaigners. Stephen Jakobi, the director of Fair Trials Abroad, said: "The Gary Glitter case is one of the most blatant examples of buying off a prosecution we have ever encountered.
"Corruption in criminal justice has been a major factor in south and south-east Asia ever since Fair Trials Abroad was founded."
Glitter, 61, whose real name is Paul Gadd, has been held on remand in prison since he was arrested last month at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City as he tried to flee Vietnam.
He had left his rented home in the southern resort of Vung Tau amid allegations about his relationships with two teenage girls.
Glitter was taken back to Vung Tau for further investigation by the police and has been detained in a regional prison on suspicion of engaging in obscene acts with a child - a charge punishable by up to 12 years in prison.
The payments are equivalent to around three times the average annual wage in the south-east Asian country. It could mean he receives a lighter sentence if the case goes to court.
"If we pay the money for the two families, when this case goes to court, maybe Mr Gary will receive a lighter penalty," Glitter’s attorney Le Thanh Kinh said.
"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."
Prosecutors in Vietnam said that the money would have no bearing on whether the case goes to trial. However, the court could consider it as a form of compensation during the sentencing phase, deputy provincial chief prosecutor Nguyen Van Xung said.
"It will not affect the investigation and the trial process, but the court may consider it as one factor to lessen the sentence," he explained.
Police completed their investigation into the case this week and handed over their conclusions to Glitter and Kinh today.
Prosecutors have said they are likely to charge Glitter with engaging in lewd acts with a child, saying there is not enough evidence to prove the more serious crime of child rape, which carries a maximum penalty of death by firing squad.
"The crime of obscene acts with a child is obvious," Nguyen Van Xung said. "We hope to have the final decision in less than a month."
The two girls reportedly told police that they had sex with the former glam rocker at his rented seaside house in Vung Tau.
However, police investigators said there was not enough evidence to press the child rape charge against Glitter since medical tests showed the girls did not have sexual intercourse.
Glitter won fame as a flamboyant glam rocker in the 1970s. He was convicted in Britain in 1999 of possessing child pornography and served half of a four-month jail term before being released.
He later went to Cambodia and was permanently expelled in 2002, but Cambodian officials did not specify any crime or file charges.
Mr Jakobi of Fair Trials Abroad said that the relative wealth of foreign tourists accused of sex crimes could have a distorting effect on justice in south-east Asia. He said: "It is unfortunately sometimes a factor in prosecuting the innocent.
"We have had, in the past, cases in the Philippines where persons have been accused of paedophile activities in order to extort money and sometimes the local branch of a paedophile charity promotes baseless accusations in order to encourage donations from the western parent body."
I hope he serves the full sentence, I imagine that 12 years in a Vietnamese prison would be a living hell for a pedophile.
Glitter won fame as a flamboyant glam rocker in the 1970s. He was convicted in Britain in 1999 of possessing child pornography and served half of a four-month jail term before being released.
Pedophilia will always get worse.
Moral absolutes ping.
"Rock and Roll, Part III"
I'd have bankrupted the sick bastard.
Unfortunately, some of that may be a function of just how much money his "people" get to the jailers and to him for buying off the other convicts. Regardless, semi-comfortable or not, he shouldn't be expected to survive 12 years at his age.
No, that distinction belongs to Michael Jackson, and I would have to give Roman Polanski second place.
I'm surprised he wasn't able to bribe the authorities to be allowed out of the country.
I agree, the average annual family income in Vietnam is about $2300.00. So this is about 150% of that, which isn't a whole lot when you consider that Michael Jackson is paying tens of millions.
http://homepage.mac.com/rpoor/RoomToRead/Folios/Vietnam.html
>Two thousand pounds. That's $3,445.81 USD.
I'd have bankrupted the sick bastard.<
The reps for the victims obviously have not heard of the Michael Jackson cases...$$$$.
"rock star Gary Glitter"
who? not much of a star I guess.
LAter pingout.
Child molesters should be executed.
As another poster's tagline says, remove the whole body.
But Jacko denies it and Polanski claims it only happened once. Glitter is de facto admitting his guilt and he is still committing these offenses. He is even more flagrantly flouting his crimes.
If he had any concience at all, he would buy himself a place on a sparcely populated island and make a point of staying clear of children. He has the wealth to afford self-imposed exile.
It sounds like he doesn't want to be cured.
Gary Glitter, Rock and Roll Part II.
It's probably been played at every TV football game for years and years.
Enough to put those kids through college ten times over.
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