Authorities are preparing to deport convicted British sex offender Paul Francis Gadd, said Minister of Women’s Affairs Mu Sochua on Monday.
Gadd, widely known to music fans as “Gary Glitter,” served two months of a four-month sentence in a British prison in 1999 after admitting guilt to 54 charges of downloading pornographic photographs of children.
Gadd was questioned by municipal police Saturday after British newspaper tabloid journalists told officials Gadd was in Phnom Penh, Municipal Foreign Police Chief Pol Pithey said Monday.
He is not suspected of having committed a crime in Cambodia, Pol Pithey said. However, police are investigating whether Gadd failed to register with the government after living here for more than six months.
Gadd’s passport shows he first entered Cambodia last July 23. His last entry into Cambodia was March 11. The 54-year-old is living in an apartment near Phsar Chas, Pol Pithey said.
“Right now, we have nothing to accuse him of. But if we have some proof or evidence that he is involved in pornography,” then Gadd could be expelled, Pol Pithey said.
Mu Sochua said she will send a letter today to the British Embassy requesting copies of British government records on Gadd. She said confirmation of his criminal record could come in the next few days.
That information would then be passed on to Prime Minister Hun Sen, with a request to expel Gadd, Mu Sochua said.
“He has not committed a crime in Cambodia, but I want to put out a very strong message that these people are not welcome in Cambodia,” she said. “For me, this is a moral issue. It is a preventative measure.”
A British Foreign Office spokeswoman was quoted on the British Broadcasting Corp’s Web site as saying the British government supports efforts “to prevent the abuse of children by British pedophiles overseas and to detect and apprehend offenders. We work with governments, regional authorities and law enforcement agencies to tackle pedophilia wherever it occurs.”
Gadd rose to fame as a “glam rock” singer in the 1970s and has sold about 20 million records. He moved to Cuba after his release from prison, but was later expelled by Cuban authorities. His name remains on the British sex offenders register.
Gadd’s passport also includes visa stamps from Thailand, Vietnam, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Colombia.
