Detectives believe there are more victims and will continue to investigate activities of former Lostprophets singer
The rock singer Ian Watkins has received a 35-year sentence after
admitting a string of sex offences involving children including the
attempted rape of a baby.
Two women, known only as Woman A and
Woman B – who are the mothers of children he abused – were sentenced to
14 and 17 years respectively.
Watkins was jailed by Mr Justice
Royce for 29 years. He will serve at least two thirds of that before the
parole board can decide if he should be released. If he is released
early, he will serve the rest of the jail term on licence. But the judge
stipulated he will serve an extra six years on licence on top of that,
bringing the total sentence to 35 years.
Royce told Watkins:
"Those who have appeared in these courts over many years see a large
number of horrific cases. This case, however, breaks new ground.
"You,
Watkins, achieved fame and success as the lead singer of Lostprophets.
You had many fawning fans. That gave you power. You knew you could use
that power to induce young female fans to help satisfy your insatiable
lust and take part in the sexual abuse of their own children.
"Away from the highlights of your public performances lay a dark and sinister side."
Watkins looked blank as he was led from the dock. The sentence was greeted by shouts of "yes" from the public gallery.
During
his sentencing hearing it emerged that the day after the former
Lostprophets lead singer admitted his offences he told a female fan from
prison that he was going
to issue a statement saying it had been "mega lolz". He also told her he did not know "what everybody is getting so freaked out about".
Watkins,
who has been on suicide watch in prison, told the woman, only
identified as Samantha, that he had thought about telling the court:
"Come on, it was not that bad; nobody got hurt." He said another tactic
could be to "win them over with my charm" and claim: "I was off my head
and do not remember anything."
The hearing was told that in a
second conversation with the same woman on the following day he insisted
that no baby was ever harmed.
Christopher Clee, prosecuting,
detailed images found on Watkins's computer. Of a total of 90 images of
child abuse, 24 fell into the most serious category. He also possessed
22 images of bestiality.
In mitigation, Watkins's barrister, Sally
O'Neill, said her client's life had unravelled because of the pressures
of fame and his drug addiction.
She said: "He was the singer of
an extremely successful band that sold millions of records and the focus
of considerable attention from fans. Fans who would do anything to
attract his attention and once they had it do anything to keep it. It
was 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He was bombarded with messages
from fans trying to hit on him."
She said drugs played a
"considerable part" in Watkins's offending. She explained his "mega
lolz" comments as bravado, adding: "He was at a very low ebb and under
considerable stress."
She said Watkins conceded that it was
"probably his arrogance" that led him to believe he could live outside
normal rules of morality. "He has perhaps, belatedly but nonetheless
now, realised the gravity of what has happened," she said.
As Watkins begins his prison sentence, detectives said they would continue to investigate his activities.
They
said they believed there were more victims and were liaising with
forces across Britain, the international police organisation Interpol
and the department for homeland security in the US. South Wales
detectives have already travelled to the US and to Germany, where the
band toured extensively, to try to establish if Watkins committed sex
offences there.
The police, organisations that work with abused
children and Watkins's former bandmates have all urged other victims to
contact the authorities.
Watkins and two female fans in their 20s,
who cannot be named, had been due to stand trial last month at Cardiff
crown court for a total of more than 20 offences, including allegations
involving the women's children, a boy and a girl. He had denied the
accusations and loyal fans had attended court to show their support.
But
at the last moment – after jury members 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.
Watkins, whose former
band has sold around 3.5m albums, admitted 13 charges over five years
including attempting to rape one of the children and conspiring to rape
the other. The court was told that the two women sexually abused their
children at his behest 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 hotel in west London shortly after
appearing on BBC Radio 1.
When police investigated Watkins, who
is from Pontypridd in south Wales, they found a "secret" computer disc.
GCHQ experts helped police get access to the material on the disc, which
featured videos of sexual abuse, including the attempted rape.
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.
Clee, the prosecutor, 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."
Watkins's barrister claimed that Woman A and Woman B were equally to blame for the abuse that was carried out.
But
Woman A's barrister, Jonathan Fuller QC, said his client was an
impressionable 17-year-old when she met Watkins for the first time.
"She
was corrupted by him," said Fuller. "He darkened her world with drugs
and even injected her with heroin. She sacrificed her own moral compass
so she could sustain a relationship with a man she was obsessed with.
"She was a girl doing her A-levels. He was in the limelight and a rock star. She was vulnerable and exploited."
Christine
Laing QC, for Woman B, said her client was a "very immature young
woman" suffering from an undiagnosed personality disorder and postnatal
depression when she first spoke to Watkins. Laing told the court how
Watkins had told Woman B: "You and your daughter now belong to me."
South
Wales police – who have codenamed their investigation Operation Globe –
said detectives had spoken to witnesses around the world. They said two
young victims were now being cared for in places of safety, but the
force would continue to question Watkins in case there were other
victims.
Before the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Doyle said he believed there were further victims.
Co-founded
by Watkins in Pontypridd in 1997, Lostprophets released five albums.
The other members of Lostprophets announced the band was splitting up
last month. They have made it clear they knew nothing of Watkins's
offending.