King used fame to lure teenage boys, sex trial told

The convicted sex offender, 73, allegedly exploited his position in the record industry to carry out attacks on 11 teenagers as young as 14 in the 1970s and 1980s.

King, an ex-pop star and producer for acts including Genesis, is said to have lured youngsters into his Daimler or Rolls-Royce cars before driving them home, where they were plied with alcohol.

He also gave them presents, including records and concert tickets, showed them pornography and made false promises of sex with teenage girls, said prosecutor Rosina Cottage QC.

“When they were in his power and in no position to repel his advances he would assault them. It appears that it was a game of manipulation and power over boys aged about 13 to 16,” she said.

“He would play the same routine again and again, honed for success.”

King, of Bayswater, central London, is standing trial at Southwark Crown Court where he denies 24 serious sexual assault charges against boys aged between 14 and 16, alleged to have taken place between 1970 and 1988.

Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, blue tie and colourful trainers, he appeared in court under his real name, Kenneth George King.

Wearing round glasses and a bum bag, he sat expressionless in the dock as the case against him was opened.

King is on trial at Southwark Crown Court (John Stillwell/PA)

A jury of five men and seven women was told King denies he would ever have sex with anyone under age or force himself on someone without consent.

But the prosecutor said his denials are “hollow” and revealed he was convicted in 2001 of sexual offences against five teenage boys in the 1980s.

Referring to the current allegations, she added: “He claims not to know or remember most of the boys, despite their photographs or letters or addresses and details still being in his home up to 30 years later, like trophies kept for his own private perusal.”

The court heard King would target straight, immature boys, securing sex by showering them with gifts of records, concert tickets, meals and alcohol, as well as paying insincere compliments and making false promises.

Ms Cottage said: “This case concerns sexual assaults by this defendant upon 11 teenage boys in the 1970s and 1980s.

“The defendant used his position in the music industry and his fame to lure boys into his Daimler or Rolls-Royce, where he would flatter them and pretend that they could help him with research or promotion.

“He would then drive them to his home where he would give them alcohol and promise them sex with teenage girls and show them pornography.”

Jurors were warned they would see pictures of a blow-up doll as well of images of naked girls during the trial.

The prosecutor explained: “The reason that you have them at all is because the individual boys, at the time, said they were shown photos… of naked girls to try to encourage them to believe they were going to have sex with those girls.”

One image of a topless girl lying on her stomach features the words “let’s do it”, the court heard.

Ms Cottage showed jurors a video of King’s home, pointing out a topless picture of 1980s page three model and singer Samantha Fox.

“Samantha Fox is someone who the defendant occasionally described as his girlfriend to one or two of these young men,” she added, before outlining the accounts of the alleged victims.

One said he was “star struck” when King pulled up next to him near London’s Tottenham Court Road in his white Daimler car in April 1970.

The court heard King later bought the 15-year-old alcohol after taking him to dinner at a Chinese restaurant, where he said he would go with the famous TV star and radio DJ Kenny Everett.

The youngster was left “shocked and frightened” after King sexually assaulted him at his home, where he had given him more to drink and offered to show him his music room, a jury was told.

Ms Cottage said the complainant came forward after reading an article in the Independent newspaper in 2012, entitled “Jonathan King: the only apology I have is to say that I was good at seduction”.

King denies meeting the boy or having any sexual encounter with him, the court heard.

Another alleged victim was 14 or 15 years old when he was sexually assaulted by King in the late 1970s, the court heard.

King is alleged to have shown the youngster “pop fan goodies” in the boot of his Daimler before giving the youngster a newly released single.

He is later said to have taken the boy to a Birmingham radio station while he was interviewed, plied him with champagne and taken him to the Playboy Club in London.

Ms Cottage said the complainant was promised sex with girls, shown pornography and supplied condoms by King, who also took the boy and his sister to Pebble Mill, a BBC studio in Birmingham.

She told jurors he last saw King on his 21st birthday, when the defendant told him “he was too old and ugly for him now”.

King made no comment when interviewed about the allegations after the complainant came forward after hearing of another high-profile case.