Vietnam: Vietnamese police yesterday questioned former rock star Gary Glitter for a second day over allegations he had sex with underage girls, following his detention on Saturday at Ho Chi Minh airport as he tried to flee to Thailand.
Glitter (61), whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, is being held in the resort city of Vung Tau, where he has lived since March. He allegedly committed "obscene acts with a minor". Detectives confirmed that the singer, who served two months in prison in Britain in 1999 after being convicted of paedophile offences, is still being held but declined to comment on whether he would be prosecuted.
The authorities decided to hold Gadd after questioning a 15-year-old girl they found living in his home last week.
The former singer had already fled by then, reportedly with a 14-year-old girl who described him as her husband.
The UK Foreign Office confirmed that a Briton was being detained in Vang Tau, 80km from Ho Chi Minh, but declined to identify the person. If prosecuted for consensual sex with a minor, Gadd could face 12 years in prison.
Child protection experts say Vietnam is becoming increasingly popular with foreign paedophiles because neither the authorities nor the public have much experience of them.
"It's very easy for children to be exploited because society doesn't know a lot about sex tourism and so doesn't have the vigilance," said Le Hong Loan, Unicef's chief child protection expert in Vietnam.
The police also lacked expertise, she said.
"They're not prepared to deal with the issue. They're also very cautious about dealing with foreigners."
Paedophiles are moving away from traditional haunts such as Pattaya in Thailand and Phnom Penh in Cambodia because of greater awareness there, according to Christine Beddoe of Ecpat, a group campaigning to end child prostitution.
Gadd was detained in Cambodia in 2002 but was never prosecuted. He was forced to leave after an aggressive campaign by women's rights groups.
- (Guardian Service)