Lostprophets’ former lead singer Ian Watkins pleads guilty to a string of sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby.
Warning: this article includes details of the offences committed
Changing his plea at the last minute ahead of a trial, Watkins, 36, from Pontypridd, south Wales, admitted several sex offences he had previously denied.
The “determined and committed paedophile”, as he was described in court by prosecutor Chris Clee QC , was charged with sexually touching a one-year-old and encouraging a woman to abuse her own child during a webcam chat.
He appeared alongside two women who, Mr Clee said, “sexually abused their own children and made them available to Watkins for him to abuse”. The women were fans of the band.
Mr Clee read out the contents of a series of text and internet messages between Watkins and the two women.
Watkins and Woman A swapped messages where the singer spoke of his desire to “make him mine” and to “cross the line”. They also spoke of plans to blow crystal-meth smoke into the child’s face.
Mr Clee also gave details of a 17-minute video involving Watkins and Woman A. The barrister said camcorder footage was shot in a London hotel room which showed Watkins performing a sex act on the child. Computer analysts found the footage uploaded to an online storage facility.
Mr Clee said that following this meeting, the pair exchanged emails about how they would not go “easy” on the child next time. Watkins admitted possessing and making child abuse images, as well as launching the plot to rape a baby.
He insisted he had no memory of what would have been key video evidence showing the abuse of his one-year-old victim, the court heard. The judge said jurors had been “spared having to watch extremely graphic material”.
He was originally charged with rape, but said sex with the child had not taken place during a drug-fuelled binge he said he was on at the time.
Watkins initially faced 24 separate charges, all sex offence related. He pleaded guilty to 11 charges on Tuesday, nine of which were unchanged and two of attempted baby rape, as opposed to rape.
Lostprophets
Lostprophets burst on to the scene in 2000 with their highly-acclaimed debut album TheFakeSoundofProgress.
The Welsh rock band's third album, Liberation Transmission, reached number one in the UK album charts. In a number of early interviews, the rock singer was more than happy to talk up how he regularly shunned drink and drugs.
The promotional video for the band's second single, A Town Called Hypocrisy, featured Watkins as a children's television presenter and enjoyed regular airplay on music channels.
But rumours began to emerge of him being a sex-crazed drug addict who conducted online sex chats with young fans. When he was charged with child sex offences, his bandmates spoke of their total shock and said they were cancelling their tour dates.
Around a month before the trial was listed at Cardiff crown court, they announced they had split up.
Mr Clee told the judge at Cardiff crown court that both of the attempted rape admissions were accepted.
He acknowledged that there was an argument regarding what key video evidence seized from Watkins’s laptop actually showed.
“From the footage, there is an argument as to whether the full offence is made out,” he told judge Mr Justice Royce.
“If it is made out, it is minimal. There is so little difference between the full attempt and the attempt as to make no difference. We are prepared to accept the pleas as tendered.”
He also told the judge that the prosecution had considered the effect on the jury of watching the explicit video footage. Previous hearings discussed arranging counselling for jurors who might need it.