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Jonathan King denies child abuse charges going back 30 years
Special report: child protection
Jonathan King, pop promoter and TV personality, yesterday denied allegations of paedophilia against him made by three men going back 30 years. Mr King, 55, was arrested and charged with buggery, attempted buggery and indecent assault on Thursday night following a six month investigation by the serious sexual offences unit of the national criminal intelligence service (NCIS) into paedophile activity.
The men, who were aged between 13 and 15 at the time, came forward with allegations against Mr King during a wide-ranging investigation into alleged paedophile activity in the 1970s and 80s, according to a police source. It is understood that following publicity about his arrest a number of people contacted NCIS with further allegations against him.
Mr King, who ran a successful recording and publishing company during the period covered by the allegations, described the charges as "absurd".
"I categorically deny these absurd allegations about events from 28 years ago. I have great faith that the British legal system will vindicate me," he said on returning to his home in Bayswater, west London, after spending the night in a cell at Staines police station. Police earlier searched the mews house and removed a number of items for analysis.
Chris Poole, Mr King's spokesman, said the former DJ was shocked but regarded the allegations as "an occupational hazard".
"Last night when I spoke to him he was very shocked and disorientated but he was picking himself up today and he said it is business as usual," said Mr Poole.
"He also told me that he regards it as something of an occupational hazard for people in the public eye to have these sorts of accusations made against them. He is determined he is innocent and he will be proved innocent.
"I do not think Jonathan knows specifically who has made these allegations ... He is absolutely determined to defend himself and to continue with his work commitments."
Mr King works as a consultant to a number of record companies and the Eurovision Song Contest, and runs a music industry magazine, the Tipsheet.
Educated at Charterhouse school and Cambridge University, King was 21 when he recorded his first number one record, Everyone's Gone To The Moon. A year later he was appointed manager of Decca Records and aged 25 he founded his own label, UK Records.
He is credited with discovering major acts including Genesis, the Bay City Rollers and 10cc and has claimed to have had 20 records in the top 30 under 20 different aliases. The records include Una Paloma Blanca, Lick a Smurf For Christmas, Loop di Love and Leap Up and Down and Wave Your Knickers in the Air.
In the 1980s he moved into television, devising and presenting Entertainment USA, which he presented on BBC2, and music programme No Limits. He often appeared in jeans, white trainers, dinner jacket and large multi-coloured glasses. He has also written a novel, Bible Two, and worked as a pop columnist for the Sun newspaper.