Pop mogul Jonathan King has been freed on parole after three-and-a-half years in prison for child sex offences, still claiming he is innocent of the charges against him. He is aware some British media are not willing to forgive and forget him, but he has responded with an aggressive PR campaign in a bid to shake off the "pervert" label.

"You can imprison the body, but not the talent that is Jonathan King," his legal adviser Giovanni di Stefano has said.

King told his lawyer he is planning to write a musical about Cole Porter and has pledged to campaign for people falsely accused of crimes.

But the path from convicted sex offender to rehabilitated pop pundit or activist may not be an easy one.

I became popular inside when the tabloids kept on printing rubbish about me being beaten up or bullied and the other inmates could see for themselves that I wasn't hurt in any way Jonathan King

"It will be very difficult, as we are hearing from phone-ins," says BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas.

"People don't want to forget what has happened and the media is very unforgiving.

"People have expressed the view that he has been released too soon.

"And though it is possible for people to come back, they have to have something to offer that the media wants and I'm not sure Jonathan King has."

King was known by many for his provocative column in The Sun newspaper.

But when asked whether King would be asked to write for the newspaper again, a Sun spokeswoman said she "couldn't imagine that being the case".

"It's an awful long time since he's written for us. We don't have a space for a new column," she said.

Media correspondence

But perhaps well aware of the stigma which continues to dog Gary Glitter, King forged a working relationship with several other media outlets during his time inside.

He continues, in postings on his website, to protest his innocence and also to dismiss inaccuracies in tabloid stories.

King wants to write a musical about Cole Porter, his lawyer says

The latest, dated 27 March 2005, says: "Just a note to reconfirm I will be released on Tuesday, 29 March. And I am still completely innocent."

The Observer's Lynn Barber began a professional correspondence with King during his prison term for an article, and it later developed onto a more personal level.

King "proved to be a wonderful confidant" when Barber's husband David became ill.

"From me being the audience to his life, he switched completely to being the audience to mine.

"And when David eventually had the [bone marrow] transplant - unsuccessfully - and died, he wrote me some of the kindest, most thoughtful, letters of any I received. "

'Fascinating' prison

The Observer reprinted King's last dispatch from prison before his release.

"I've found prison a most enlightening, enjoyable and fascinating experience. Like boarding school without the sex."

He described the range of people he met in prison: "There's a whole world in there, packed with nice, horrid, average and extraordinary people, a way of life unknown to the majority of us."

In the letter, he said he was grateful to the tabloids for incorrect stories about how he had been attacked by fellow prisoners.

There were plenty of prisoners who needed his help, especially with reading and writing Lynn Barber Observer journalist

"I became popular inside when the tabloids kept on printing rubbish about me being beaten up or bullied and the other inmates and officers could see for themselves that I wasn't hurt in any way.

"I gained more friends that way than you'd ever believe. Thank you, tabloids. "

Such was the "revelatory" experience of prison that King, in the Observer letter, said even if God offered him �10m "to return to being a lovable, zany, eccentric pop person" he would reject it.

Barber described him as a very giving person, although she remained unsure if their friendship would continue after his release.

"But he gives, as it were, from a height: he likes to be in a quasi-paternal or older brother role.

"From that point of view, prison probably suited him, because there were plenty of prisoners who needed his help, especially with reading and writing," she wrote in the Observer.

King's criticism of the way the media has treated him raises interesting questions, said the Guardian's James Silver, who also maintained correspondence with King during his imprisonment.

Shortly after news of King's arrest was leaked to the press, more people stepped forward to claim King had abused them as well.

Hysteria

"Celebrity provokes fantasies, particularly when guided by saturation coverage in the media," King said in the Guardian.

While most of the claims were dismissed, King was eventually found guilty of six offences.

"The tabloids are 99% entertainment, 1% information. It seems the mere mention of my name provokes hysteria.

"The truth is, being described as a 'vile pervert' means absolutely nothing to me," King told the Guardian.

With a single to promote and television interviews lined up, King certainly does not plan to disappear from the media spotlight just yet.