Former pop star allegedly arrested in connection with Jimmy Savile scandal

The sex abuse scandal surrounding the late BBC children's television host Jimmy Savile widened on Sunday as police arrested former glam rock star and convicted sex offender Gary Glitter in connection with the case, British media said.

Police would not directly identify the suspect arrested on Sunday, but media including the BBC and Press Association reported that he was the 68-year-old Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd.

Glitter made it big with a number of hits in the 70s, including his best known "Rock & Roll (Part 2)."

But he fell into disgrace after being convicted on child abuse charges in Britain and Vietnam.

British police do not generally identify suspects under arrest by name until they are charged, and when asked about Glitter, a spokesman said only that the force had arrested a man in his 60s early on Sunday morning in London on suspicion of sexual offences in connection with the Savile probe. He remains in custody in a London police station, police said.

Glitter is the first suspect to be arrested in the scandal. It was not immediately clear if Glitter and Savile knew each other.

Hundreds of potential victims have come forward since police began their investigation into sex abuse allegations against Savile, the longtime host of popular shows "Top of the Pops" and "Jim'll Fix It" who died at age 84 last year.

Most allege abuse by Savile, but some said they were abused by Savile and others.

Glitter was convicted in 2006 in Vietnam of committing "obscene acts with children" - offences involving girls aged 10 and 11.

He was deported back to Britain in 2008. He was separately jailed in Britain in 1999 for possessing child pornography.

The scandal has horrified Britain with revelations that Savile cajoled and coerced vulnerable teens into having sex with him in his car, in his camper van, and even in dingy dressing rooms on BBC premises.

Police have said that though the majority of cases related to Savile alone, some involved the entertainer and other, unidentified suspects.

The BBC has set up an independent inquiry into the corporation's culture and practices in the years Savile worked there. It also launched a separate inquiry into whether its journalists dropped an investigation into the allegations.