On warm nights in this seaside resort, neighbors say the British foreigner would sing in his backyard — sometimes for friends, sometimes alone, but always very loudly. Once upon a time, Gary Glitter sang to millions as he pranced and strutted in his metallic jumpsuits as one of the shining stars during Britain's glam rock era in the 1970s.

But Glitter, 61, has fallen a long way since his days on top of the charts, dogged by rumors of his predilection for very young girls since his conviction in London in 1999 for possessing child pornography.

He is now sitting in a Vietnamese prison, amid allegations that he had sex with underaged girls, including a 12-year-old.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was stopped by immigration police at Ho Chi Minh City's airport Nov. 19 as he tried to board a flight for Bangkok. Police had begun a manhunt for him a week earlier after he fled his ocean-view villa in the coastal resort city of Vung Tau.

On Friday, prosecutors said police had gathered enough evidence of a possible crime to keep Glitter under detention for another three months while police proceed with a criminal investigation.

It marks the latest chapter in Glitter's long downfall, after once enjoying the high life as one of Britain's larger-than-life pop icons.

"He was absolutely huge. He was one of the figureheads of the glam rock movement in Britain in the 70s. He was incredibly popular with young audiences," said Andrew Male, deputy editor of London-based Mojo music magazine.

With his bouffant black wigs, sequined jumpsuits, and silver platform heels, Glitter dominated the early to mid-70s with hits like "Leader of the Gang" and "Do You Wanna Touch Me," later covered by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. He sold some 18 million albums.

In the United States, he is best known for the rousing stadium crowd-pleaser "Rock and Roll (Part 1&2)" with its single-word chorus of "Hey." The song is still played at virtually every major sporting event in the country.

Glitter's musical career slowly faded as he became an unfashionable has-been by the 1990s. He lived off his past glory, and did occasional variety performances and quiz shows.

"He had become something of a tragic figure even before these stories hit the headlines," said Male. "But it was the point when he took in his computer (for repair), the images found there, that was point when it was exposed and everyone was aware of it."

Glitter was convicted in 1999 of possessing thousands of images of child pornography and served half of a four-month sentence before he left the country.

In December 2002, he was expelled from Cambodia, hounded out by child advocates and then-Minister for Women's Affairs Mu Sochua, who argued that his conviction in Britain was enough to bar him permanently.

"There was a great concern among NGO groups that are working on children's rights because this man had been convicted in the UK on child porn charges," said Naly Pilorge, director of LICADHO, a Cambodian non-governmental organization that works on human rights and child trafficking issues.

"With these types of convictions and charges, we were deeply concerned that Cambodian children would be put at risk around this man. Obviously, Vietnam has the same concerns," she said.

Glitter has visited Vietnam three times since October 2003, according to police, most recently entering in April through the land border with Cambodia in southern An Giang province.

He rented a terracotta-tiled villa with a swimming pool and an ocean view in Vung Tau, a sleepy seaside resort popular as a weekend getaway for Vietnamese from Ho Chi Minh City.

Few foreigners reside here so Glitter, bald and burly, was quickly noticed. Neighbors said he was often seen bringing up to five or six girls in their mid-teens to his home at a time. Laughter and loud talking at the pool could be heard over the high walls surrounding his villa, they said.

Vietnam does not have the reputation of Cambodia as a haven for sex tourism, but recent surveys by the government and the U.N. Children's Fund indicate that child prostitution, including child sex tourism, is on the rise, said Le Hong Loan, head of UNICEF Vietnam's child protection section.

"I think the case of Gary Glitter is a historic case for Vietnam so it can be more vigilant about the situation of sex tourism," Loan said. "Many people are unaware of the problem but because of (Glitter) and the media, more and more people are talking about it."

For the ex-rocker who sought to stay anonymous in Southeast Asia, Glitter's notoriety proved his undoing.

"I hate the name Gary Glitter," he reportedly said after being caught at Tan Son Nhat airport by an immigration officer who had remembered articles about the former singer. "It is too famous. Because of it, I draw so much attention."