Gary Glitter has been released

Authorities freed British glam rocker Gary Glitter from prison in southern Vietnam on Tuesday, sending the convicted child molester into an uncertain future after nearly three years of confinement.

Guards removed Glitter, 64, from the Thu Duc prison in Binh Thuan province and transported him Tuesday to the Ho Chi Minh City airport, said prison director Tran Huu Thong. He was seen at the airport boarding a plane to Bangkok shortly before 9 p.m.

Vietnamese authorities planned to deport Glitter immediately back to Britain, said his lawyer, Le Thanh Kinh.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was convicted in March 2006 of committing “obscene acts with children.” He served 2 years and 9 months of a three-year sentence, which was reduced for good behavior.