Former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins‘ trial has begun in Cardiff, UK and today (November 26th) he pled guilty to 13 sexual offenses. Charges he admitted guilt to include conspiring to rape a child. He also admitted to sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13 and aiding and abetting a female co-defendant to sexually assault a child under 13.
He further pled guilty to possessing various indecent photographs of children and two counts of taking indecent photographs of children between 2007-2008. Furthermore, he admitted to possession of bestiality pornography. He denied two counts of the actual rape of an eleven month old child, but admitted to two counts of attempting to rape said child.
The 21 year old woman in the case admitted to aiding and abetting an attempted child rape, aiding and abetting child rape, two counts of sexually assaulting a child aged under 13 years, taking indecent photographs of children and distributing indecent photographs of children.
The 24 year old woman in the case pled guilty to sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 as well as charges possession and distribution of indecent photographs of children and conspiracy to rape a child under the age of 13.
Watkins had previously denied all charges but turned face in court today and began admitting his guilt. He is quoted as saying that he can’t remember the attempted rapes.
His and the unnamed females sentencing will take place December 18th. Wales Online has a live court report running with some disturbing facts from the case.
As suspected, the children abused in the case were those of the two females in question. There’s also some disturbing exchanges between Watkins and one of the mothers in question, including Watkins replying “hell yes baby” to the mother suggesting a “a summer of incest and child porn”.
For now the trial continues.
Update – November 26th 09:06am:
South Wales Police have released the below photograph of Watkins—one of the few photos of the 36 year old to be released since his arrest and detainment late last year:
Update #2 – November 26th 9:26am:
ITV News correspondent Rupert Evelyn has been in court today live tweeting coverage from the Watkins and co. trial. He has reported some rather disturbing facts which he says are not edited. Information gleaned from his tweets include:
Allegations of drug abuse have come to light, with word that one of the child in question’s hair tested positive for exposure to Methamphetamine. Discussions of ‘whoring out” the children with mention of crack cocaine were also brought up.
The various images and associated footage of the charges at hand were found on a password protected hard drive and in a cloud storage account—both belonging to Watkins.
Watkins is also quoted as saying “The sooner we start training her the better” to the mother regarding the attempted rape of her child.
The attempted rape in question took place at a hotel in Shepherds Bush in April 2012 and was filmed by Watkins himself along with the child’s mother.
Police also believe that Watkins may have abused others and will continue to investigate him.
Update #3 – November 26th 11:03am:
Former Lostprophets guitarist Lee Gaze has tweeted on the matter, offering:
“That was over quick. Thank fuck.”
“Thanks for the kind words. At least there is closure now. X”
When asked by a fan if he really thought Ian was guilty, he replied: “Are you insane? Fuck off.”
Meanwhile, the court has now heard of a 16 year old female teenager from Boston who Watkins encouraged to fly out and meet him in a school uniform only to film her engaging in “disgusting acts” of a sexual nature at his request in 2006.
Furthermore, he was also found to have filmed himself having sex with a 16 year old girl in October 2008. Both of the females in question were fans of the band.
Given the nature of the case and the guilty pleas Justice Royce has ruled that there will not be a trial in the case. He is quoted as telling the jury:
“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. You have been saved from having to watch extremely graphic and distressing material.”
Prosecutor Chris Clee was quoted as saying of the footage of the attempted rape:
“From the footage, there is an argument as to whether the full offence (of rape) is made out. 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.”
Update #4 – November 26th 12:04pm:
The UK branch of the Huffington Post have a report that sheds light on the graphic evidence provided today. Excerpts from it can be found below:
“The charges included sexually touching a one-year-old and encouraging one crazed groupie to abuse her own child during a sordid webcam chat on Skype.
Detectives successfully downloaded the recorded footage, 45 minutes long, in which Watkins talks about how they were going to use the baby for sex.
In the footage, which takes the form of a split screen, Watkins is seen to pleasure himself and refer to the woman and her baby as his “slave duo.”
The pair also discuss looking after the child as it grows up and making it have sex with animals and take drugs.
The child’s mother, speaking to Watkins, also refers to her baby as “your little fuck toy.”
At a later date she sent him a picture of herself having oral sex with the baby.
Mr Clee said that when police raided the home of Watkins following his arrest in September last year they also found a box of camcorder cassettes.
These proved to hold recordings of filmed sex acts with under age girl fans, one of whom he met up with in a New York hotel.
Mr Clee said that one girl, 16, contacted Watkins saying she was a fan who was still a virgin and went on to agree to give her virginity to him.
She then flew from Boston to New York and went to a hotel where he was staying, bringing with her a schoolgirl outfit he had asked her to dress in.
They are then filmed having oral and full sex before he asks her: “Do you like being my underage slut.”
Mr Clee added: “He finishes by urinating over her face and telling her to ‘drink my piss.'”
“Prosecuting QC Chris Clee gave details of a sickening plot to turn babies in subservient sex slaves using hard drugs.
Watkins and Woman A swapped messages where the frontman spoke of his sick 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 at a secret meet up in a Cardiff hotel.
And on March 23, Watkins sent the woman a message saying he wanted a “summer of filthy child porn” and how he wanted to take things “to the next level”.
Mr Clee also gave details of a sickening 17-minute video involving Watkins and Woman A.
Mr Clee said camcorder footage was shot in a London hotel room which showed Watkins perform a sex act on the child.
Computer analysts found the footage uploaded to online storage facility The Cloud.Mr Clee said that following this meeting, the pair exchanged emails about how they would not go “easy” on the child next time.”
The same site is also reporting that the password on a laptop which contained offensive material was “if**kkids”.
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