Barry Gibb has said he hopes his recent revelation about being targeted by a child molester when he was younger will help other children in the same situation.
The Bee Gees singer , 70, revealed earlier this month that a man tried to molest him when he was four and has now added that he think’s it’s “important” to speak out about it.
Arriving at the O2 Silver Clef Awards, hosted by musical therapy charity Nordoff Robbins, he said: “I was in the middle of an interview and I was talking about the Isle Of Man and really early childhood and it just came out, it was something I had never told anybody and it wouldn’t be appropriate to continue that any longer.
“Whatever happened to me happened to me, but I reach out to the kids that it’s happened to as well and that is really it, I can’t really expand on that.”
Barry Gibb has spoken out about his child abuse ordeal
Barry Gibb hopes his admission can help other children
He recently told the Radio Times: “There was a moment in time when a man tried to molest me when I was about four years old. He didn’t touch me, but other things happened, and happened to other kids.
“And eventually they came and arrested him, and they woke me up during the night. Four years old and a policeman on your bed at four in the morning, interviewing you.
“If that doesn’t teach you about life, nothing does. But it’s vivid for me still. I’ve never told anybody.”
Arriving at the ceremony on Friday, where Dame Shirley Bassey was presented with the O2 Silver Clef Award and Phil Collins received the Icon Award, he added: “I think it’s important to say so, I think it’s important to say ‘this did happen’ because there are a lot of people out there like that and they get away with it.
“I wasn’t going to tell anybody but it just sort of came out and that was it.”
