Boy George guilty of false imprisonment

LONDON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- British pop star Boy George was found guilty of falsely imprisoning a man in his London apartment and likely faces time behind bars, a judge said.

Audun Carlsen, a 29-year-old male escort from Norway, has said he went to Boy George's home to be photographed last winter and the singer attacked him and chained him to a wall in his bedroom when he returned to the flat last April.

Boy George, whose real name is George O'Dowd, denied the allegations, accusing Carlsen of stealing photographs from his laptop. The court heard during O'Dowd's trial his assertions that he handcuffed Carlsen to his bed while he checked out his computer.

The BBC quoted Carlsen as claiming the stolen photo story was a ruse and stating the 1980s music icon chained him up because he was angry Carlsen didn't have sex with him during their earlier meeting

"The fact that your bail is being continued does not imply that this will be dealt with by a non-custodial sentence," Judge David Radford told the singer in court, adding that prison time was "likely." "I don't want any false expectations created."

O'Dowd declined to testify on his own behalf during the trial.

The BBC said he is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 16.