A former Welsh police officer who encouraged more than 200 girls to send him explicit images and videos while he was a police officer has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years.
Investigators revealed they are still looking for more victims in England and Wales, and confirmed some of the abuse took place when 24-year-old Lewis Edwards was on duty. They also said they acted as quickly as possible when they noticed that the suspect was one of their colleagues.
Despite pleading guilty to 161 crimes, Lewis Edwards complicated the investigation by failing to reveal the passwords and codes for his computer and mobile phone and refusing to appear in court for his sentencing.
Lewis Edwards used pseudonyms such as James, Jacob and CJ to approach girls on the social network Snapchat.
After convincing the victims to send the photos and videos via Snapchat, he recorded them without the girls’ consent and threatened to send them to their family and friends. He also said he would find the addresses of these girls and kill their loved ones.
Lewis Edwards had no previous convictions and passed all police tests without any problems.
The victims hid the abuse from their families for months and some even contemplated suicide. Others stopped leaving their homes to maintain their privacy.
Tracey Rankine, from Wales Police, said it was a shock they identified Lewis Edwards as the perpetrator when their assessment found no issues.
“These are innocent children who thought they were having a conversation with someone their own age and that conversation became incredibly unpleasant and threatening and they felt like they had no choice but to do as they were told. It’s going to be a far-reaching situation. “and for many people, lasting,” said Tracey Rankine.
In addition to these victims, the former police officer also used bitcoins to purchase images of sexual abuse of minors.
Source: DN
