British rock singer Ian Watkins, the former Lostprophets frontman, was jailed for 35 years today for the attempted rape of a baby and other ‘incomprehensible’ child sex offences. Watkins, who admitted 13 offences at Cardiff Crown Court, had “plumbed new depths of depravity”, his judge said.
The 36-year-old, whose band sold millions of albums around the world, plotted the abuse of two children with their own mothers in a series of text and Internet messages.
After sexually touching one groupie’s 11-month-old baby, the heavily-tattooed rocker then tried to have penetrative sex with the child.
He also encouraged a second fan to abuse her child during a webcam chat and secretly stashed child porn videos, some of which he had made himself. Britain’s GCHQ intelligence agency was called in to crack his laptop password, which referenced his perversion. Police suspect the offences Watkins admitted may be only the tip of the iceberg. His two accomplices, known only as Woman A and Woman B to protect the identity of their children, were jailed for 14 years and 17 years respectively.
Judge Roger Royce told Watkins that courts were used to horrific cases but his “breaks new ground”. The singer used his fame and power over “fawning” young female fans to “help satisfy your insatiable lust and take part in the sexual abuse of their own children”. Behind his public performances lay “a dark and sinister side”, said Royce. “You are a deeply corrupting influence, you are highly manipulative, you are a sexual predator, you are dangerous. “The public and, in particular, young females need protection from you. “You spoke of not knowing to what extremes you would have gone but for your arrest. It is difficult to imagine anything much worse.”
Watkins will be released in around 20 years’ time and spend the rest of his sentence on licence, meaning he must adhere to certain conditions or face recall to prison. “Ian Watkins was the ringleader of this terrible conspiracy and it is right that his sentence reflects this,” a Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman said. (AFP)
