Hanoi - Disgraced former glam rock king Gary Glitter has paid 2,000 dollars each to the families of two Vietnamese girls, ages 11 and 12, who had accused him of coercing them into sex, police and his lawyer said Tuesday.

The families have since written to police asking for a reduced sentence for Glitter on current charges of 'lewd acts with a minor,' not the child rape charge that police were also investigating, according to lawyer Le Thanh Kinh.

Police and prosecutors said this week they had finished their investigations and would not file child rape charges, though Glitter still will be prosecuted for the lesser lewd acts charge.

As a result, the 61-year-old former singer, who was convicted of child pornography in his native Britain, would likely get as little as six months in prison instead of the death penalty he might have faced on child rape charges, the lawyer said.

In Vietnam, any sex with a child under age 16 is considered child rape. Initial medical tests indicated neither the 11-year-old nor that 12-year-old was a virgin. At the time, police told reporters that both girls said it was Glitter who had had intercourse with them.

However, police said this week that they have completed their investigations and would recommend that no child rape charges be pursued because there is no evidence proving that it was Glitter who had sex with the girls.

'Our investigation found out that [Glitter] just kissed, fondled and licked the girls without having sexual intercourse and that he paid them for each time he did that,' said Nguyen Duc Trinh, deputy chief of the Vung Tau police investigation unit.

Famed in the 1970s for his outrageous wigs, lame jumpsuits and for such hits as 'Rock and Roll (Part 2)' and 'Leader of the Gang,' Glitter was arrested in the southern seaside resort of Vung Tau on Nov. 19 after several young girls said he molested them.

Glitter's lawyer said he raised the issue of compensation with the families shortly after his client was charged last month and that they first asked for between 5,000 and 10,000 dollars.

Later, however, the families lowered their demands. After receiving the money, the families then wrote letters in support of Glitter to the police, Kinh said.

Glitter was disgraced in his native Britain when a technician found hard-core child pornography on his computer. He served half of a four-month sentence in 1999 for possession of child pornography.

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