Pop guru jailed for molesting boys

The judge told King he had used his fame and success to attract impressionable boys

LONDON, England -- British pop impresario Jonathan King has been sentenced to seven years in prison after he was found guilty of molesting schoolboys.

King "exploited his celebrity" to lure the boys to his central London home where he seduced them with sexy pictures of girls, the Old Bailey criminal court heard.

The 56-year-old record producer and former pop star was found guilty on September 27 of six charges of sexual assault involving five boys aged between 14 and 15 between 1982 and 1987. He denied all the charges.

But the trial could not be reported until Wednesday, when he was sentenced, because the star, charged under his real name Kenneth King, faced three other trials for similar offences.

The second trial alleging he committed serious sexual offences against two boys in the 1970s collapsed on Tuesday.

The prosecution offered no evidence after one of the victims said he could have been 16 at the time -- taking him over the legal age of consent.

Following a meeting between lawyers and police, the court heard that it had been decided that prosecutors would not proceed with the other cases.

In a statement released after his conviction, King said he had been convicted "without a trace of evidence or proof against me, after an enormous burst of media publicity provoked by all the false allegations." His legal team says it will appeal against conviction.

Student star

King admitted the boys had been to his home but said there had been no sexual contact. "It's all lies," he told the jury.

He said he wrote out 20,000 to 30,000 "market research" lists during his 36-year career to find out their thoughts on "sex, drugs and rock and roll."

But police said he used these personal surveys to draw youngsters into conversation about sex, before luring them to his home to be abused. Copies of the list, including some in Italian and German, were found at his home.

The five complainants, now aged mainly in their early 30s, said in their evidence that they trusted King because he was famous.

A stream of celebrities, including lyricist Sir Tim Rice, gave evidence to his character in court -- but all said they were unaware of the details of the allegations against him.

David Jeremy, prosecuting, said King manipulated his victims with "an atmosphere of normality" as he abused them, and was confident that he would get away with it.

"He is someone of such overwhelming confidence, bordering on arrogance, that it never crossed his mind that young boys would be believed," he said.

"He believed he could get away with almost anything. He just thought he was invulnerable."

King's long career in pop music started when he wrote his first Top 10 hit, "Everyone's Gone To The Moon," while still a student at Cambridge University in 1965. At 22, he became general manager of Decca records and three years later founded his own recording and publishing company.

He was involved in producing records for or founding the Bay City Rollers, Genesis and 10cc. He also produced hits such as the recent "Who Let The Dogs Out."

King has also presented the BBC television programme Entertainment USA in the 1980s, stood twice for Parliament as an independent, and has written books.