Gary Glitter ordered to pay more than $600,000 to child sex abuse victim

Disgraced glam rocker and convicted child abuser Gary Glitter was ordered to pay more than $600,000 (at least £508,800) in compensation to a victim he abused when she was 12.

A judge at the London High Court ruled on the damages on Tuesday, June 11; it is possible that the amount will be increased after the judge considers the interest and whether Glitter (real name Paul Gadd) will have to cover the plaintiff’s legal costs. The anonymous plaintiff previously won a default judgment in her case against Gadd, who neither responded to the damages claim nor attended the hearing.

“There is no doubt that the claimant was subjected to sexual abuse of the most serious kind by the defendant when she was only 12 years old, and that this had a very significant negative impact on the rest of her life,” said the ruling.

The woman who filed the compensation claim against the musician was one of three young girls whom Gadd was convicted of sexually abusing between 1975 and 1980. In that case, which ended in 2015, Gadd was found guilty of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault. , and one count of sex with a girl under 13.

According to the judge’s decision in the damages case, Gadd met the plaintiff and her mother backstage at one of his shows, “did them with champagne,” eventually got the young girl alone and abused her. On another occasion, the judge wrote that Gadd raped the suspect in his London home. The decision noted that “further sexual assaults” also occurred.

As the judge wrote in her decision, the plaintiff alleged that Gadd’s abuse had “severe, profound and long-lasting” consequences. The judge continued: “This is especially true given the claimant’s age at the time of the abuse; the association between the abuse and the plaintiff’s mother and the emotional consequences it caused; the serious, persistent, long-term psychiatric injury suffered by the plaintiff as a result of the abuse; the wider impact on the claimant’s life over many decades, including on her education, career prospects and subsequent relationships (including intimate relationships); and the fact that the case went to trial many decades later and the defendant pleaded not guilty and was convicted.”

Per The guardan attorney for the plaintiff, Richard Scorer, said the damages cannot make up for the horrific sexual abuse his client suffered, but that it is “at least a way to acknowledge the devastation my client suffered throughout her childhood and adult life has wrought.’

He continued: “Gadd’s refusal to participate in the trial only demonstrates his complete lack of remorse, something we will remind the Parole Board of when he reapplies for parole. We will pursue Gadd for payment and will continue to support our client throughout this process.”

After his conviction in 2015, Gadd was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Gadd was briefly released on parole last year, but just over a month later he was sent back to prison for violating probation conditions. He was reportedly caught trying to access the dark web and view downloaded images of children.

Another parole hearing for Gadd was held in January, but the board ultimately decided he should not be released. There were concerns about his lack of empathy for victims and his decision not to participate in programs related to his conviction. Gadd has reportedly continued to deny that he was sexually interested in children.