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Lostprophets' Ian Watkins admits sex offences including attempted rape of baby
Lostprophets' Ian Watkins admits sex offences including attempted rape of baby
(about 4 hours later)
The rock singer Ian Watkins has pleaded guilty to a string of sex offences involving children, including the attempted rape of a baby.
Detectives will continue to investigate the rock singer Ian Watkins after he admitted a string of child abuse offences including the attempted rape of a baby.
Watkins, the 36-year-old lead singer and founder member of the now-disbanded Lostprophets, had been due to face trial at Cardiff crown court but changed his pleas at the last moment.
Watkins, the 36-year-old lead singer and founding member of the now disbanded Lostprophets, faces a lengthy jail sentence, but officers fear he may have used his celebrity status to exploit more as yet unknown victims both in the UK and overseas.
The jury had been warned they would have to examine disturbing images and arrangements were already in hand for them to receive counselling at the end of the case.
Detectives in south Wales, where Watkins lived, have been working with other forces and agencies across Britain and have liaised with Interpol and the department for homeland security in the US, where Lostprophets toured extensively.
But Watkins, whose band has sold around 3.5m albums world wide, admitted 11 charges – though he claimed he had no memory of what would have been key video evidence showing a one-year-old victim being abused, because he had been taking drugs on the day in question.
Watkins and two female fans in their 20s, who cannot be named, had been due to stand trial at Cardiff crown court for more than 20 offences, including allegations involving the women's children, a boy and a girl. He had vociferously denied the accusations and loyal fans had attended court to show their support.
As well as the attempted rape, the charges admitted by Watkins included encouraging a woman to abuse a child during a webcam chat. He also pleaded guilty to making images of child sexual abuse.
But on Tuesday – after jurors had been warned they would have to examine some very disturbing images and arrangements had been made for them to receive counselling after the trial – Watkins and the women pleaded guilty to almost all the charges against them.
Christopher Clee QC, prosecuting, said the crown had accepted Watkins's pleas partly to spare the jury the trauma of watching explicit video footage.
Watkins, whose former band has sold around 3.5m albums, admitted 13 offences over five years, including attempting to rape one of the children and conspiring to rape the other.
Clee branded Watkins, from Pontypridd in south Wales, a "determined and committed paedophile". The court heard of an exchange with a woman offering him a "summer of child porn". He replied: "Hell yes baby."
The court was told that the two women sexually abused their children at the behest of Watkins and were prepared to make the children available to him for sex. The prosecution said the attempted rape happened while Watkins was staying at a four-star hotel in west London shortly after appearing on BBC Radio 1.
Two women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared alongside Watkins and also admitted sex offences involving children.
When police investigated Watkins, who is from Pontypridd, they found a secret disc. GCHQ experts helped them get access to the material on the disc, which featured videos of sexual abuse, including the attempted rape.
The court heard that the two women were fans in their twenties who sexually abused their babies, a boy and girl, at the behest of Watkins – and were prepared to make the children available to him for sex.
Watkins, a user of crack cocaine and crystal meth, maintained he could not remember the incident but the court was told this could have been because he was high on drugs. It emerged he had also discussed forcing his victims to take drugs – and one of them was found to have been exposed to crystal meth.
It emerged that GCHQ helped crack the passwords on Watkins' computer to get access to the criminal images he had stored there.
Christopher Clee QC, prosecuting, branded Watkins a "determined and committed paedophile". The court heard of one exchange in which a woman offered him a "summer of child porn". He replied: "Hell yes, baby."
Police found drugs including crack cocaine and crystal meth on Watkins. Tests showed that one of the children had been "exposed" to crystal meth.
Outside court, Catrin Evans, the head of the complex casework unit of the crown prosecution service in Wales, said: "The three defendants in this case have admitted very serious sexual offences committed against extremely young children, demonstrating sexual exploitation at its worst."
Detectives worked with other British police forces and agencies, the child exploitation and online protection centre, local authorities in England and Wales. But they also liaised with Interpol and the department of homeland security in the US.
South Wales police – who have codenamed their investigation Operation Globe – said detectives had spoken to witnesses around the world and would continue to investigate Watkins in case there were other victims.
Wearing a grey suit with a white shirt and dark tie, his black and grey hair shaped into a quiff, Watkins continually looked to his barrister as he made his admissions.
DCI Peter Doyle, of South Wales police, said: "This investigation has uncovered the most shocking and harrowing child abuse evidence I've ever seen. There is no doubt in my mind that Ian Watkins exploited his celebrity status in order to abuse young children. Today's outcome does not mark the end of our investigations and we will work tirelessly to identify any other victims."
Catrin Evans, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service's complex casework unit for Wales, said: "The three defendants in this case have admitted very serious sexual offences committed against extremely young children, demonstrating sexual exploitation at its worst.
The South Wales force has referred itself to the police watchdog the IPCC, which is examining if officers reacted quickly enough after four forces passed on information about Watkins before he was finally arrested. The inquiry is ongoing.
"A number of the victims are too young to be able to understand what has happened to them, yet the defendants exploited them for their own gratification.
Co-founded by Watkins in Pontypridd in 1997, Lostprophets has released five albums. The other members of the band announced they were splitting up last month.
"The prosecution case is based on robust evidence uncovered by the investigation team and the South Wales police high-tech crime unit. The CPS team worked closely with the police to build a strong case and this has been a major factor in today's guilty pleas.
"The CPS will not tolerate child abuse. Tackling this unacceptable crime is a priority for all of us in the criminal justice system.
"We have recently issued new guidelines for prosecutors dealing with child abuse cases and are committed to supporting victims and bringing those who abuse and exploit children before the courts."
Unusually, after Watkins was charged in December last year, South Wales police named him and asked anyone with information to come forward.
In a statement, it said: "In order to assist their investigation South Wales police has named the man as Ian Watkins, a member of the rock group Lostprophets."
The statement said Watkins and two women had been arrested as part of a "continuing investigation" codenamed Operation Globe and had been questioned at Cardiff Bay police station.
On Tuesday, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Doyle, of South Wales police, said: "This investigation has uncovered the most shocking and harrowing child abuse evidence I've ever seen.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Ian Watkins exploited his celebrity status in order to abuse young children.
"Today's outcome does not mark the end of our investigations and we will work tirelessly to identify any other victims."
Experts from the NSPCC were also involved at a very early stage.
John Cameron, the head of child protection operations for the NSPCC, said at the time of Watkins's first court appearance: "We can confirm we are working alongside South Wales police and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre on this investigation.
"It's vital we send a clear message to those who have experienced abuse that they can never be to blame for what has happened to them, that they have somewhere to turn and that they will be taken seriously."
Co-founded by Watkins in the south Wales town of Pontypridd in 1997, Lostprophets released five albums, the latest of which, Weapons, came out in April 2012. The group have had two singles, Last Train Home and Rooftops, in the UK top 10. The other members of Lostprophets announced last month that the band were splitting up.
Watkins and the two women will be sentenced next month.
Watkins and the two women will be sentenced next month.
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