Benjamin Glaze, a former American Idol contestant who became known after kissing Katy Perry during his audition, has been jailed for possessing child sexual abuse material.
Glaze, 26, was arrested in October after police found more than 700 photos and videos depicting child sexual abuse on his phone.
Tulsa Police said Glaze pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to 25 years on September 15.
Following his arrest, Glaze was released from Tulsa County Jail on a $50,000 bond, according to TMZ.
The former American Idol contestant first attracted widespread attention in 2016, when Katy Perry kissed him during his audition while serving as a judge on the show.
Although Glaze did not advance to Hollywood, the audition propelled him into the spotlight because of the unexpected kiss.
Perry faced criticism after kissing Glaze, who was then 20 and had told the judges he had “never been in a relationship” and could not “kiss a girl without being in a relationship.”
The 13-time Grammy nominee turned what had begun as a kiss on the cheek into a full-mouth kiss. Glaze reacted with surprise, exclaiming: “Katy! You didn’t!”
Benjamin Glaze became a viral sensation in 2016 after Katy Perry, then an American Idol judge, kissed him during his audition
Glaze, 26, was arrested in October after police found more than 700 photos and videos depicting child sexual abuse on his phone
Glaze pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of child sexual abuse material and received a 25-year sentence on September 15
Glaze defended Perry at the time. In a post on Instagram, he wrote: “I do not think I was sexually harassed by Katy Perry. I was uncomfortable in a sense of how I have never been kissed before and was not expecting it.”
He added: “My main goal is to reach people through the universal love of music and not cause strife or anger against anyone or about any situation!”
In an earlier interview with The New York Times, Glaze said he had been “a tad uncomfortable” and had wanted to save his first kiss for his first relationship.
“I wanted it to be special,” he said.
Glaze also said that, had Perry asked for permission beforehand, he would have declined the kiss.
Glaze explained: “Would I have done it if she said, ‘Would you kiss me?’ No, I would have said no.”
“I know a lot of guys would be like, ‘Heck yeah!’ But for me, I was raised in a conservative family and I was uncomfortable
Glaze was in his late teens when he auditioned for American Idol in October 2015 with a self-written song called Stadium.
Glaze defended the singer at the time, and wrote on Instagram: ‘I do not think I was sexually harassed by Katy Perry. I was uncomfortable in a sense of how I have never been kissed before and was not expecting it’
Perry’s co-judge, Luke Bryan, defended the singer for the kiss and told Larry Emdur on The Morning Show that ‘it’s unfortunate that stuff like that turns into a story that big. I watched an actual interview where the kid said that he was cool with everything.’
Bryan continued: ‘I gotta back Katy on that. We (the judges) are going to get it right sometimes and wrong sometimes.
‘We’re in there critiquing people. They say something one day that not everyone is going to like. That’s just what you signed up for.’
