World News - Singer guilty of attempted baby rape

divdiv class=story-body readability=63 span class=story-date#13; span class=date26 November 2013/span#13; span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time11:30 ET/span#13; #13; /span#13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; p class=introductionIan Watkins, singer of Welsh rock band Lostprophets, has pleaded guilty to a series of depraved child sex offences including attempted rape of a baby./p#13; pHe had previously furiously denied the allegations./p#13; pThe 36-year-old from Pontypridd and two women had been due to stand trial at Cardiff Crown Court./p#13; pWatkins pleaded guilty to attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13 but not guilty to rape. This was accepted by the prosecution./p#13; pSentencing will take place on 18 December./p#13; pProsecuting barrister Chris Clee QC told the court: Ian Watkins was the lead singer in a successful band called the Lostprophets./p#13; pHe accepts he was a determined and committed paedophile./p#13; pWatkins also admitted three counts of sexual assault involving children and six involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal./p#13; pThe evidence against the defendant came from computers, laptops and mobile phones./p#13; pThe court heard that he filmed and kept the episodes of abuse - which took place in various hotels in London and south Wales - which were recovered by police./p#13; !-- Embedding the video player --#13; !-- This is the embedded player component --#13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- wwrights check --#13; !-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13; #13; #13; #13; div class=videoInStoryC readability=1#13; div id=emp-25102922-28152 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71356000/jpg/_71356859_watkins.jpg alt=Artist's impression of Ian Watkins in court/pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; !-- companion banner -- #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- END - companion banner --!-- caption --p class=captionHywel Griffith reports from Cardiff Crown Court: ''Ian Watkins had previously 'furiously denied' the charges./p#13; !-- END - caption --#13; #13; #13; #13; /div#13; !-- end of the embedded player component --#13; #13; !-- Player embedded -- pSome of the evidence was too extreme and distressing to report./p#13; span class=cross-head'Teach babies to take drugs'/span#13; pReferring to two women standing alongside Watkins in the dock, Mr Clee said: Both women sexually abused their own children and made them available to Watkins for him to abuse./p#13; pThe court was told how the abuse of the children by all parties was also evident in text messages. /p#13; pWatkins sent a text to one of the women saying: If you belong to me, so does your baby./p#13; pIn an exchange involving the other woman, she sent Watkins a message along with an image of her child to the effect that her child needed to know she was not loved./p#13; pWatkins also planned to teach the babies how to take drugs, the hearing was told./p#13; pMr Clee said drugs played a significant part in his offending against children./p#13; div class=story-feature wide readability=15#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_1Continue reading the main story/a h2Who are Lostprophets?/h2#13; !-- pullout-items--#13; #13; !-- pullout-body--#13; pLostprophets, an alternative rock band from Pontypridd in the south Wales valleys, formed in 1997. /p#13; pThe band was founded by lead singer Ian Watkins, bassist Mike Lewis, drummer Mike Chiplin and guitarist Lee Gaze. /p#13; pThey released five albums, and their biggest hits included Last Train Home and Rooftops. The band sold about 3.5 million albums worldwide./p#13; pTheir music received heavy airplay on mainstream radio stations and they were a staple festival act at the likes of Reading and Leeds, but they struggled to be taken seriously in the rock fraternity as their music became increasingly pop-orientated./p#13; pThe band announced they were splitting up in October, ten months after Watkins was charged./p#13; pFormer south Wales music journalist Gavin Allen says: They achieved real success, but their career - and back catalogue - will now be so tainted that it is hard to see any radio stations playing their music again. /p#13; pTheir legacy has just vanished./p#13; #13; !-- pullout-links--#13; /div p id=story_continues_1Police found meth, cocaine and GHB during their searches./p#13; pMr Clee told the court drugs were a regular theme in his dealings with the two other defendants./p#13; pClaiming his innocence, Watkins had told police during interviews he was being stalked by a crazed fan and other people had access to his computers./p#13; pHe claimed he was the victim of a malicious campaign./p#13; pThe court heard in Oct 2006, Watkins met up in a hotel with a 16-year-old girl from Boston, who he had met during during a Lostprophets concert./p#13; pShe dressed in a schoolgirl's outfit and he filmed their encounter./p#13; pIn Oct 2008 he filmed himself having sex with another 16-year-old girl, who was also a Lostprophets fan./p#13; span class=cross-headExploited status/span#13; pOne of the two women charged alongside Watkins, Woman A, admitted the attempted rape of a baby after denying rape and two charges of sexual assault as well as taking and distributing an indecent photograph of a child./p#13; pWoman B pleaded guilty to conspiring to rape a child, three sexual assault charges and four charges of taking, possessing or distributing indecent images./p#13; pAfter hearing legal argument from barristers, Mr Justice Royce called the jury into court and told them: There will not be a trial in this case. The defendants have all pleaded guilty to nearly all the charges against them. The prosecution does not seek a trial in these circumstances./p#13; pYou have been saved from having to watch extremely graphic and distressing material./p#13; #13; pSally O'Neill, defending Watkins, said the singer was under the care of a psychiatrist./p#13; pSpeaking outside the court, Det Ch Insp Peter Doyle from South Wales Police said: This investigation has uncovered the most shocking and harrowing child abuse evidence I have ever seen./p#13; pThere is no doubt in my mind that Ian Watkins exploited his celebrity status in order to abuse young children./p#13; pToday's outcome ensures the three people responsible have been brought to justice./p#13; pTwo very young children have been removed from this abuse and given a future that would otherwise have been denied them./p#13; pThe investigation has been extremely complex and challenging with key information and evidence being identified from witnesses worldwide./p#13; pHe added that today's guilty pleas did not mark the end of the investigation and the force would work tirelessly to identify other victims or witnesses./p#13; pCatrin Evans, head of the Complex Casework Unit for the Crown Prosecution Service, Wales, said: The three defendants in this case have admitted very serious sexual offences committed against extremely young children, demonstrating sexual exploitation at its worst. /p#13; pA number of the victims are too young to be able to understand what has happened to them, yet the defendants exploited them for their own gratification./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center