Thomas Edwards – Llangunnor

17 Saturday Jul 2021

Posted by Author in Carmarthenshire, Hunting Team

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July 2021

Ex-nurse in his 80s shared ‘disgusting’ messages with people he thought were girls aged 11 and 13

A former nurse in his 80s engaged in highly sexualised online conversations with people he thought were girls aged 11 and 13, a court has heard.

Thomas Edwards chatted to three separate social media profiles, encouraging the girls to perform sex acts on themselves and to kiss and fondle their friends and telling them he liked “lesbian love”.

In fact the 85-year-old was communicating with decoys set up and operated by so-called paedophile hunters.

Swansea Crown Court heard that at the beginning of August 2019 Edwards made contact with what he thought were young teenage girls online.

Hannah George, prosecuting, said the three profiles were actually run by members of a group called Children Need Protecting.

The court heard the profiles made their purported ages clear to the defendant but over the following days he engaged in sexual conversations with the “girls” – telling them they were gorgeous, asking them about their sexual interests, and encouraging them to perform sex acts on themselves while he “talked them through” what they should do.

Miss George said Edwards encouraged the girls to try kissing and touching their female friends because he liked “lesbian love” and discussed setting up a webcam so he could watch what the girls were doing. He also asked one of them about her underwear and asked another for pictures of her in their nightie.

The court heard that on August 6 members of the group travelled to Edwards’ home to confront him.

The defendant was arrested later that evening and initially gave a “no comment” interview before telling police officers he didn’t have a sexual interest in children.

Thomas Picton Edwards, of Rhoslas, Llangunnor, Carmarthen, had previously pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. His failure to attend for two earlier crown court hearings had resulted in arrest warrants being issued.

Judge Paul Thomas QC told the defendant he had engaged in “highly sexualised or, to use another word, disgusting” conversations with what he believed to be young girls.

He said Edwards had tried to portray himself as extremely fragile and in poor physical and mental health but his medical conditions were, in fact, no worse than might be expected of a man of his age.

The judge said it was clear that when Edwards had engaged in the conversations he had “full mental capacity – warped though that was”.

Judge Thomas said the appropriate sentence after trial would have been one of seven years in prison.

He said reducing that as he was obliged to do to account for the defendant’s age and for the extra difficulties of serving a prison sentence in the current Covid pandemic brought the starting point down to four years.

Allowing a one-third discount for the guilty pleas he sentenced Edwards to two years and eight months in prison.

The defendant will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence under the UK government’s early release scheme to serve the remainder in the community.

The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the next 10 years and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

Benjamin Hewens – Laugharne

17 Saturday Jul 2021

Posted by Author in Carmarthenshire

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July 2021

Bus driver abused vulnerable girl ‘for his own sexual gratification’

A well-known bus driver manipulated and abused a vulnerable teenager for his own sexual gratification, a court has heard.

Benjamin Daniel Hewens repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl over the course of a number of months.

The 30-year-old father-of-two denied the allegations but was convicted following a trial at Swansea Crown Court.

The court heard how Hewens, a well-known bus driver in Carmarthenshire, repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl who was aged under 16 at the time.

In a statement from the victim, which was read to court by prosecution barrister Nicola Powell, the girl described the impact the abuse had had on her, and on her family. She said she had been left feeling “dirty and ashamed”, and had lost all feelings of self-worth as a result of what the defendant did to her.

As a victim of sexual offences the girl has life-long legal anonymity.

Benjamin Daniel Hewens, of Orchard Park, Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, had previously been convicted of four counts of sexual assault of a child, and one count of possessing indecent images when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Catherine Richards told Hewens he had manipulated and abused a vulnerable girl “for your own sexual gratification”. She said the defendant had “devastated” his victim’s young life.

Hewens was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He will serve two-thirds of that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.

Jonathan Fennell – St Clears

23 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by Author in Carmarthenshire

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June 2021

Pervert admits indecent images of children offences

A paedophile that shared images containing the worse type of abuse against young children has avoided a prison sentence

Jonathan Fennell, of Bridge Street, St Clears, Carmarthenshire appeared at court where he admitted making and distributing category A images of children and one charge of perverting the court of justice

The court was told that Fennell had downloaded the vile images off the internet and in turn shared them with other like minded perverts online.

Fennell admitted that he was sexually attracted to children aged between five and 14 years old

Fennell was sentenced to a nine month prison sentence that was suspended for two years.

He was also placed on the sexual offenders register for 10 years and handed a sexual harm prevention order

Stephen Evans – Llanelli

19 Saturday Jun 2021

Posted by Author in Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire

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June 2021

Llanelli paedophile jailed for 1970s Caerphilly offences

A paedophile who treated a young girl as his “sex toy” is starting a long prison sentence.

Stephen Evans, 58, was jailed for more than 10 years after a jury found him guilty of a catalogue of historical child abuse offences.

The defendant committed a string of sex offences during the 1970s and 1980s when he was living in Caerphilly county.

Evans, now of Bryn Rhos, Llanelli, was condemned by Judge Michael Fitton QC at Cardiff Crown Court.

He told him: “You corrupted and depraved your victim. You treated her as your sex toy.

“You knew the difference between right and wrong.”

Referring to the fact the defendant had denied the offences and taken the case to trial, the judge added: “You fought tooth and nail to avoid the truth.

“You bent her to your will. You wriggled and lied throughout the trial.

“You thought you were above the law.”

Evans was found guilty of five counts of indecent assault and five counts of indecency with a child.

Prosecutor Clare Wilks told the court the defendant’s victim had suffered from depression following her terrible ordeal.

Nicola Powell, mitigating, said her client was a man of previous good character with no convictions recorded against him.

Evans was sent to prison for a total of 11 years and told he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Ryan Davies – Llanelli/Ammanford

15 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by Author in Carmarthenshire

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May 2020

Former Tesco worker had thousands of child sex images and shared them with fellow paedophiles on the dark web

A former supermarket worker found with a haul of indecent images of children told police he was a “pornography addict”, a court has heard.

Ryan Ashley Davies had actively searched for images of youngsters – some estimated to be as young as four – online, and had shared a number of them with fellow paedophiles.

Among the mobile phones and other devices seized by police was one that had been set-up to access to so-called “dark web”, the part of the web not accessible by usual search methods.

Swansea Crown Court heard that police executed a search warrant at Davies’ address in Trinity Road in Llanelli in August 2018, seizing a number of mobile phones, tablets, and computers from the house and garage.

Sophie Hill, prosecuting, said an examination of the devices found more than 1,710 indecent images and films including 594 of Category-A, the most serious kind, some of which showed children as young as four being raped by men.

Another 5,000 images found on the machines were not categorised by police.

Officers found evidence Davies had been actively searching for sexual material featuring under-age children, and had software on one of the devices for accessing the “dark web”.

The court heard police also found the defendant had an online DropBox file-storage account which others could link to, and had shared some 77 indecent images with other users on the Kik messenger service.

It wasn’t until December 2019 that Davies was arrested at an address in Ammanford, and during his interview told officers he was a “pornography addict” but had only looked at the images out of “curiosity”.

Miss Hill said the delay in the matter being charged and coming to court was down to a 12-month wait for the forensic examination of the defendant’s electronic devices due to the “significant backlog and lack of resources”, as well as subsequent difficulties in locating Davies.

Davies, aged 24, of Princess Court, Llanelli, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of making incident images and to three counts of distributing indecent images when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

Judge Catherine Richards said the defendant had been “persistent and determined” in accessing indecent images, some of which he had also shared.

She said that though people referred to “images”, what people were actually talking about were real children being abused for the “perverted gratification” of adults – and by downloading and sharing the images Davies was encouraging such abuse.

Giving the defendant a one-third discount for his guilty pleas she sentenced him to a total of two years in prison – Davies will serve half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

The defendant was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order to control his access to the internet, and will be a registered sex offender for the same length of time

July 2021

Ex-nurse in his 80s shared ‘disgusting’ messages with people he thought were girls aged 11 and 13

A former nurse in his 80s engaged in highly sexualised online conversations with people he thought were girls aged 11 and 13, a court has heard.

Thomas Edwards chatted to three separate social media profiles, encouraging the girls to perform sex acts on themselves and to kiss and fondle their friends and telling them he liked “lesbian love”.

In fact the 85-year-old was communicating with decoys set up and operated by so-called paedophile hunters.

Swansea Crown Court heard that at the beginning of August 2019 Edwards made contact with what he thought were young teenage girls online.

Hannah George, prosecuting, said the three profiles were actually run by members of a group called Children Need Protecting.

The court heard that on August 6 members of the group travelled to Edwards’ home to confront him.

The defendant was arrested later that evening and initially gave a “no comment” interview before telling police officers he didn’t have a sexual interest in children.

Judge Paul Thomas QC told the defendant he had engaged in “highly sexualised or, to use another word, disgusting” conversations with what he believed to be young girls.

He said Edwards had tried to portray himself as extremely fragile and in poor physical and mental health but his medical conditions were, in fact, no worse than might be expected of a man of his age.

The judge said it was clear that when Edwards had engaged in the conversations he had “full mental capacity – warped though that was”.

Judge Thomas said the appropriate sentence after trial would have been one of seven years in prison.

He said reducing that as he was obliged to do to account for the defendant’s age and for the extra difficulties of serving a prison sentence in the current Covid pandemic brought the starting point down to four years.

Allowing a one-third discount for the guilty pleas he sentenced Edwards to two years and eight months in prison.

The defendant will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence under the UK government’s early release scheme to serve the remainder in the community.

The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the next 10 years and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

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July 2021

Bus driver abused vulnerable girl ‘for his own sexual gratification’

A well-known bus driver manipulated and abused a vulnerable teenager for his own sexual gratification, a court has heard.

Benjamin Daniel Hewens repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl over the course of a number of months.

The 30-year-old father-of-two denied the allegations but was convicted following a trial at Swansea Crown Court.

The court heard how Hewens, a well-known bus driver in Carmarthenshire, repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl who was aged under 16 at the time.

As a victim of sexual offences the girl has life-long legal anonymity.

Benjamin Daniel Hewens, of Orchard Park, Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, had previously been convicted of four counts of sexual assault of a child, and one count of possessing indecent images when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Catherine Richards told Hewens he had manipulated and abused a vulnerable girl “for your own sexual gratification”. She said the defendant had “devastated” his victim’s young life.

Hewens was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He will serve two-thirds of that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.

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June 2021

Pervert admits indecent images of children offences

A paedophile that shared images containing the worse type of abuse against young children has avoided a prison sentence

Jonathan Fennell, of Bridge Street, St Clears, Carmarthenshire appeared at court where he admitted making and distributing category A images of children and one charge of perverting the court of justice

The court was told that Fennell had downloaded the vile images off the internet and in turn shared them with other like minded perverts online.

Fennell admitted that he was sexually attracted to children aged between five and 14 years old

Fennell was sentenced to a nine month prison sentence that was suspended for two years.

He was also placed on the sexual offenders register for 10 years and handed a sexual harm prevention order

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June 2021

Llanelli paedophile jailed for 1970s Caerphilly offences

A paedophile who treated a young girl as his “sex toy” is starting a long prison sentence.

Stephen Evans, 58, was jailed for more than 10 years after a jury found him guilty of a catalogue of historical child abuse offences.

The defendant committed a string of sex offences during the 1970s and 1980s when he was living in Caerphilly county.

Evans, now of Bryn Rhos, Llanelli, was condemned by Judge Michael Fitton QC at Cardiff Crown Court.

He told him: “You corrupted and depraved your victim. You treated her as your sex toy.

“You knew the difference between right and wrong.”

Referring to the fact the defendant had denied the offences and taken the case to trial, the judge added: “You fought tooth and nail to avoid the truth.

“You bent her to your will. You wriggled and lied throughout the trial.

“You thought you were above the law.”

Evans was found guilty of five counts of indecent assault and five counts of indecency with a child.

Prosecutor Clare Wilks told the court the defendant’s victim had suffered from depression following her terrible ordeal.

Nicola Powell, mitigating, said her client was a man of previous good character with no convictions recorded against him.

Evans was sent to prison for a total of 11 years and told he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

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May 2020

Former Tesco worker had thousands of child sex images and shared them with fellow paedophiles on the dark web

A former supermarket worker found with a haul of indecent images of children told police he was a “pornography addict”, a court has heard.

Ryan Ashley Davies had actively searched for images of youngsters – some estimated to be as young as four – online, and had shared a number of them with fellow paedophiles.

Among the mobile phones and other devices seized by police was one that had been set-up to access to so-called “dark web”, the part of the web not accessible by usual search methods.

Swansea Crown Court heard that police executed a search warrant at Davies’ address in Trinity Road in Llanelli in August 2018, seizing a number of mobile phones, tablets, and computers from the house and garage.

Sophie Hill, prosecuting, said an examination of the devices found more than 1,710 indecent images and films including 594 of Category-A, the most serious kind, some of which showed children as young as four being raped by men.

Another 5,000 images found on the machines were not categorised by police.

Officers found evidence Davies had been actively searching for sexual material featuring under-age children, and had software on one of the devices for accessing the “dark web”.

The court heard police also found the defendant had an online DropBox file-storage account which others could link to, and had shared some 77 indecent images with other users on the Kik messenger service.

It wasn’t until December 2019 that Davies was arrested at an address in Ammanford, and during his interview told officers he was a “pornography addict” but had only looked at the images out of “curiosity”.

Miss Hill said the delay in the matter being charged and coming to court was down to a 12-month wait for the forensic examination of the defendant’s electronic devices due to the “significant backlog and lack of resources”, as well as subsequent difficulties in locating Davies.

Davies, aged 24, of Princess Court, Llanelli, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of making incident images and to three counts of distributing indecent images when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

Judge Catherine Richards said the defendant had been “persistent and determined” in accessing indecent images, some of which he had also shared.

She said that though people referred to “images”, what people were actually talking about were real children being abused for the “perverted gratification” of adults – and by downloading and sharing the images Davies was encouraging such abuse.

Giving the defendant a one-third discount for his guilty pleas she sentenced him to a total of two years in prison – Davies will serve half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

The defendant was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order to control his access to the internet, and will be a registered sex offender for the same length of time

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